One in three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime according to the American Cancer Society and a recent study finds certain kinds of cancer are being diagnosed more often in younger adults.
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00:00 As kids return to the classroom,
00:02 we know it's likely that more cases
00:04 of the flu and COVID will return too.
00:07 Every fall, an updated flu shot is released,
00:09 but this year, medical experts say
00:11 we'll also have an updated COVID booster.
00:14 Johns Hopkins Medicine Associate Professor
00:16 of Pathology, Heba Mustafa, says the flu shot
00:19 and COVID booster will be two separate shots.
00:22 The new COVID booster formula is based on the XBB variant
00:26 that mutated from the Omicron variant
00:28 and has been circulating for the past six months.
00:30 But there's a new variant catching scientists' attention.
00:33 Mustafa says it's closely related to the XBB variants
00:37 and therefore, the new booster will give us
00:39 better protection than the original vaccinations.
00:42 She says that's why it's so important
00:44 to get updated boosters.
00:46 Vaccinations have actually helped reduce
00:48 the severity of the infection
00:50 and they developed that baseline immunity,
00:53 but also boosting the immune system
00:55 with those booster doses will actually
00:57 become very helpful in maintaining
00:59 that resistance and antibody levels
01:01 so we can try to reduce the spread of those new variants
01:06 and make sure that a lot more people are protected,
01:08 especially those vulnerable populations.
01:11 When looking at the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
01:14 and waves of infections, Mustafa says
01:17 there's enough evidence to show how effective
01:19 boosters can be to reduce the spread
01:22 and prevent serious infection.
01:24 (upbeat music)
01:27 One in three women and one in two men
01:29 will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime,
01:31 according to the American Cancer Society.
01:33 And a recent study finds certain kinds of cancer
01:36 being diagnosed more often in younger adults.
01:39 In today's Health Minute, Mandy Gaither
01:41 takes a look at the research and the two groups
01:43 of people most affected by the rise
01:45 in cancer diagnosis rates.
01:47 Women and adults in their 30s seem to be driving a rise
01:52 in early onset cancer diagnosis rates.
01:55 Just to get the definition straight,
01:57 if a cancer is diagnosed before the age of 50,
02:01 it's considered an early onset diagnosis.
02:04 In a study published in JAMA Network Open,
02:06 researchers found the rate of cancer diagnosis
02:09 rose in adults in their 30s from 2010 to 2019,
02:14 but remained stable over that period
02:16 in other under 50 age groups,
02:18 while the rate of cancer in those 50 and older
02:21 is going down.
02:22 If you go back to 2010,
02:24 there was roughly 100 per 100,000 diagnoses made
02:29 in that population of people, again, under the age of 50.
02:32 Fast forward 10 years and it's gone up to close to 103,
02:35 so about a 3% increase.
02:37 Researchers found early onset cancers
02:39 were going up fastest among people
02:41 who identify as American Indian,
02:43 Alaska Natives, Asians, and Hispanics.
02:46 Cancers with the highest number of early onset cases
02:50 diagnosed in 2019 were breast, thyroid,
02:53 and colorectal cancers.
02:55 The percentage of the country that is obese
02:57 at this young age now is higher than it's ever been.
03:01 Health experts believe that's one possible reason
03:04 for the rise, along with smoking and lack of exercise.
03:07 Researchers also think screening for these cancers
03:10 has become more sensitive.
03:12 We are better at finding these cancers earlier.
03:15 The screenings are happening, they're more sensitive,
03:18 so we may be finding more cancers that way.
03:20 - For Health Minute, I'm Andy Gaither.