Kate Middleton revealed on Friday that she had cancer after undergoing abdominal surgery
London:
When Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed last week that she was being treated for cancer, part of the shock was that an otherwise healthy 42-year-old woman was suffering from a disease that mainly affects the elderly.
However, researchers are increasingly warning that more people under 50 are developing cancer and no one knows why.
A large study last year in BMJ Oncology found that the rate at which people under 50 were diagnosed with 29 common cancers globally jumped by almost 80% from 1990 to 2019.
Researchers predict that the number of new cancer cases among young people will increase by another 30% by the end of this decade, with rich countries being particularly affected.
The rise in cases, coupled with a boom in the global population, means cancer deaths among under-50s have increased by almost 28% in the past 30 years.
This occurs despite the fact that survival rates for cancer patients of all ages have roughly doubled over the past half century.
Shivan Sivakumar, a cancer researcher at the University of Birmingham in the UK, calls it an “epidemic” of cancer in young adults.
Since Kate Middleton revealed on Friday that she had cancer discovered after undergoing abdominal surgery earlier this year, Sivakumar and other doctors have spoken out about the increase in the number of young cancer patients they see at their clinics.
While breast cancer remains the most common cancer among people under 50, researchers are particularly concerned about increases in gastrointestinal cancers (such as colon, pancreatic, liver and esophageal cancer) among younger people.
According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer death in men under the age of 50 in the United States. For women, it’s the second most common cause — after breast cancer.
“Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 at the age of 43 after a high-profile case of colorectal cancer.
Why does this happen?
“We just don’t have the evidence yet” to say exactly what is causing the rise, Sivakumar told AFP, adding that it could be a combination of factors.
Helen Coleman, a professor of cancer epidemiology at Queen’s University Belfast who studies early-onset cancers in Northern Ireland, told AFP there were two possible explanations.
One is that people in their 40s are exposed to known carcinogens, such as smoking, drinking or obesity, earlier than previous generations.
She points out that the “obesity epidemic” didn’t begin until the 1980s.
Sivakumar believes that at least part of the puzzle can be explained by obesity.
However, he stressed that there was “another wave” of patients under 50 who were neither obese nor genetically predisposed to still develop cancer, adding that this could not be attributed to “statistical chance”.
Another theory, Coleman said, is that “something different” is happening to her generation.
A range of possible culprits have been pointed to – including chemicals, new drugs and microplastics – but have yet to be proven.
Some believe so-called ultra-processed foods may be to blame. “But there’s little data to support that,” Coleman said.
Another theory is that the food we eat may change our gut microbiome.
While the jury is still out, Coleman said her own research suggests cancer causes changes in the microbiome, not the other way around.
Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists have even tried to blame it on the Covid-19 vaccine.
This could easily be proven wrong, as increases in cancer among young people have been occurring for decades, but vaccines have only been available for a few years.
What can be done?
To address the rising incidence of colorectal cancer in young adults, the United States is lowering the recommended screening age to 45 in 2021. Other countries have yet to follow suit.
But researchers hope Catherine’s experience will serve as a reminder to people at home that they should talk to their doctor if they feel anything is wrong.
“People are very aware of their bodies,” Sivakumar said.
“If you really feel like something isn’t right, don’t delay – get it checked out.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
