[STUDY] Young American Cancer Patients on the Rise; 30 to 39 Years Old Mostly Affected

Young American cancer patients are on the rise, as revealed by a new study published on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

Involved researchers shared their findings on the JAMA Network Open Journal, claiming that cancer among younger U.S. residents is increasing.

Young American Cancer Patients on the Rise

According to US News' latest report, the new study suggests that there's a need to re-examine cancer screening techniques, including the age of patients.

"Increased efforts are required to combat the risk factors for early-onset cancer, such as obesity, heavy alcohol consumption, and smoking," said Dr. Daniel Huang, a senior researcher of the study.

Involved experts analyzed the data of more than 560,000 American cancer patients. They discovered that the overall early-onset cancer rates have increased, especially among women.

The Washington Post reported that there's a rise in cancer cases among Americans between the ages of 30 and 39.

Meanwhile, older cancer patients (specifically 50 and above) significantly decreased over the past years.

Paul Oberstein, NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center's Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Program director, said that the findings show that the current population has less focus on cancer research.

"So it's important to do more research to understand why this is happening," said Oberstein, who was not involved in the new study.

Why Younger Cancer Patient Increase is Alarming

The new study said that gastrointestinal, breast, and endocrine cancers are commonly the ones affecting younger American patients.

Among people under 50 years old, gastrointestinal cancer rates increased by almost 15% from 2010 to 2019.

During the same period, colon cancer (2%), appendix cancer (15.6%) pancreas cancer (2.5%), and liver bile duct cancer (8%) also jumped.

As of writing, it is still unclear what causes the rise of cancer among younger Americans. Oberstein explained that if the main reasons are not identified, health experts will have a hard time solving the rise of younger cancer patients.

He added that it will only become a bigger and bigger challenge for the United States. But, involved researchers said that lifestyle factors, such as smoking, poor sleep, alcohol consumption, and being sedentary could be among the main contributors.

They also believe that obesity plays a huge role in the rise of cancer among young Americans. If you want to learn more about the alarming findings of cancer increases, you can click this link.