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 (upbeat music)
00:03 One in three women and one in two men
00:05 will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime,
00:07 according to the American Cancer Society.
00:09 And a recent study finds certain kinds of cancer
00:11 being diagnosed more often in younger adults.
00:14 In today's Health Minute, Mandy Gaither
00:16 takes a look at the research
00:17 and the two groups of people most affected
00:19 by the rise in cancer diagnosis rates.
00:22 Women and adults in their 30s seem to be driving a rise
00:28 in early onset cancer diagnosis rates.
00:31 Just to get the definition straight,
00:32 if a cancer is diagnosed before the age of 50,
00:36 it's considered an early onset diagnosis.
00:39 In a study published in JAMA Network Open,
00:42 researchers found the rate of cancer diagnosis
00:44 rose in adults in their 30s from 2010 to 2019,
00:49 but remained stable over that period
00:51 in other under 50 age groups,
00:53 while the rate of cancer in those 50 and older
00:56 is going down.
00:57 If you go back to 2010,
00:59 there was roughly 100 per 100,000 diagnoses made
01:04 in that population of people, again, under the age of 50.
01:07 Fast forward 10 years and it's gone up to close to 103,
01:10 so about a 3% increase.
01:12 Researchers found early onset cancers
01:14 were going up fastest among people
01:17 who identify as American Indian,
01:19 Alaska Natives, Asians, and Hispanics.
01:21 Cancers with the highest number of early onset cases
01:25 diagnosed in 2019 were breast, thyroid,
01:28 and colorectal cancers.
01:30 The percentage of the country that is obese
01:32 at this young age now is higher than it's ever been.
01:36 Health experts believe that's one possible reason
01:39 for the rise, along with smoking and lack of exercise.
01:42 Researchers also think screening for these cancers
01:45 has become more sensitive.
01:47 We are better at finding these cancers earlier.
01:50 The screenings are happening, they're more sensitive,
01:53 so we may be finding more cancers that way.
01:55 For Health Minute, I'm Andy Gaither.