Eleven cancers are becoming increasingly common among young people in the UK, a major analysis has revealed.
A complete explanation for why cancer rates are increasing remains elusive.
But research suggests that a decades-long pattern of people becoming more overweight may play a role, although that’s far from the whole story.
Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London stress that cancer remains rare in young people and that everyone can reduce their risk through a healthy lifestyle.
Why cancer rates are increasing among people in their teens, 20s, 30s and 40s has puzzled scientists for years.
Take Bradley Coombes from Portsmouth, who died aged just 23 from bowel cancer. His mum, Caroline Mousdale, said her son was often thought to be too young to develop the disease despite having many of the “red flag” symptoms of bowel cancer.
She said he was “a very healthy young man” who was about to sign a semi-professional football contract and was loving life. She said there was nothing that clearly put him in danger.
But after his freshman year in college, he lost a lot of weight and suffered from abdominal pain. Diarrhea and bloody stools then develop.
Bradley and his loyal dog Buster [Caroline Mousdale]
Diagnosis was made 18 months after symptoms began. By the time he had a video examination of his bowel, called a colonoscopy, the cancer was so large that the camera couldn’t get into it.
Surgery and chemotherapy failed to stop his tumors, and Bradley died with his dog Buster by his side.
Caroline said: “Like every parent, I really feel that he could have conquered his football dreams, he could have had a great life but that has been taken away from him because early-onset bowel cancer has not yet been detected.”
Caroline Musdale wonders why her young son and other young people are dying of cancer [John Angerson]
Few people know why a person develops cancer. But a team of scientists looked at cancer and lifestyle trends across the country to see if they could find a pattern.
They demonstrated this as well as increasing rates of bowel cancer; thyroid cancer, multiple myeloma, liver cancer, kidney cancer, gallbladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, endometrial cancer (or endometrial cancer), oral cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
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Bowel and breast cancer are most common in young people, with a combined 11,500 cases each year, while pancreatic and gallbladder cancer are much rarer.
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Only bowel and ovarian cancers are increasing only in younger people, with nine other cancers also increasing in older people.
The study, from The Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London, also analyzed behavioral patterns known to increase cancer risk.
But the study showed that smoking levels, alcohol consumption, physical activity levels, red and processed meat intake and the amount of low-fiber diet either improved or remained the same.
These behaviors are linked to cancer but do not explain why cancer is increasing.
The report said the only data consistent with an increase in cancer rates were levels of overweight and obesity, which have been rising since the 1990s.
Excess fat tissue is thought to alter hormones in the body, such as insulin, affecting cancer risk.
However, even this is an imperfect answer.
Taking bowel cancer as an example, researchers estimate that for every 100 additional cases, 20 may be due to excess weight, while 80 remain unexplained.
Researchers say it’s important to prevent all cancers, not just “extra” cancers. It is estimated that nearly 40% of cancers worldwide can be prevented through lifestyle choices such as not smoking.
Professor Montserrat García Crosas of the Institute of Cancer Research told the BBC: “It is very worrying to hear that the number of young people getting cancer is increasing.”
“However, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of cancer through a healthy lifestyle – for example, being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight.”
The researchers also said that while cancer rates are increasing in younger people, it’s important to remember that their rates still pale in comparison to those in older age groups.
They say one in 1,000 younger people (those in their 20s, 30s and 40s) are diagnosed with cancer each year, compared with about one in 100 older age groups (those in their 50s, 60s and 70s).
Keep looking for other risk factors. Professor Mark Gunter, of Imperial College London, said there was discussion about the use of ultra-processed foods, forever chemicals (or PFAS) and antibiotics, but said “there is still a lot we don’t know”.
Sweetened drinks, inflammation, air pollution, gut bacteria and herbicides were all mentioned.
Research is also underway into whether improved cancer detection could lead to more people being diagnosed at a younger age.
The findings were published in the journal BMJ Oncology.
