Cases of cancer among young people in England are on the rise, according to data released by the World Cancer Research Fund.
The charity found that cases of prostate cancer in men under that age of 50 has trebled since 2001, while colorectal, kidney, uterine and breast cancer are also all on the rise. The alarming new data urges a better understanding of why more young people are being diagnosed with cancer and what can be done to curb the trend.
In the major new analysis, which reviewed data from the NHS England Cancer Registry, it was found that the number of new cases of seven different types of cancer in people under the age of 50 have risen steeply since 2001.
Most notably, the incidence of prostate cancer in men under 50 was more than threefold in 2023 than 25 years prior, with a 305% increase in cases.
Cases of colorectal (bowel) cancer in both men and women also increased by 132% in under 50s in the same time period, along with kidney cancer by 109%, liver cancer by 74% and pancreatic cancer by 36%.
For women, cases of cancer of the uterus (uterine) more than doubled (108%), and breast cancer diagnoses rose by just under a quarter (24%).
The charity also found that some cancers are becoming far more common in people under 50. For example, the rate of new cases of prostate cancer in men under 50 each year increased from 1 in every 100,000 people in 2001 to nearly 4 in every 100,000 in 2023.
World Cancer Research fund has dubbed the findings a “research wakeup call” and emphasised that understanding why these increases are happening is key to providing improvements in prevention, screening and treatment for those who are diagnosed.
They argue that the significant increase in prostate cancer is particularly striking and should be an area of public health and research concern.
The rise of more than a third in the number of young people being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is also especially alarming due to its low survival rate. Only around 5 in 100 people diagnosed survive for five years or more.
Overall, any cancer can have particularly devastating effects on a younger person’s life, impacting them in the most productive years of their family and working lives. For this reason, it is vital to dig deeper into why the number of cases has changed so dramatically over the last 25 years.
This latest analysis only adds to growing concern over the continuing rise in the number of early-onset cancer diagnoses across the globe, with trends particularly prominent in the England, the US and other high-income countries.
Dr Giota Mitrou, Executive Director of Research and Policy, World Cancer Research Fund, argued that prevention of these diseases in those under 50 should become a priority for England.
She said: “These figures should make us pause and think because this current trajectory is concerning. Behind every figure is a person facing cancer earlier than they, their family and often their doctor would expect.
“These findings show that the early-onset cancer picture in England is far wider and more complex, involving several cancers rather than bowel cancer alone. While cancer is still much more common in older adults, these changing patterns among younger generations need to be treated as a serious research and cancer prevention priority,” she added.
Although the reason for the rise in early-onset cancers are likely to be complex and multifaceted, World Cancer Fund, along with researchers across the globe, are exploring factors such as changing population trends in diet, physical activity, body weight, alcohol consumption, smoking, environmental exposures (pollutants and chemicals), as well as patterns of diagnosis.
The biological mechanisms that cause early-onset cancer are not yet wholly understood, which is why exploring multiple and varied strands of evidence is vital to understanding the driving forces behind these trends.
Dr Vanessa Gordon-Dseagu, Research Translation Manager, World Cancer Research Fund International, said: “We need to understand what is driving these trends, including modifiable risk factors and exposures experienced earlier in life, changes in screening and diagnosis, tumour biology, and whether some groups are being affected more than others.
She continued: “This information will help policymakers determine where action would have the greatest impact, both for younger generations today and for those growing up in the future.”
World Cancer Research Fund has pledged to continue to fund research into early-onset cancer.
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