Scientists are trying to find out the cause of a mysterious 'epidemic' of cancer striking people under 50. The diagnosis is also more widespread among celebrities, one of the most publicized recent cases being that of the Princess of Wales. (source: adevarul.ro)
Kate Middleton's shocking diagnosis, made public last week, brought to light a startling trend. Top doctors say it's a worldwide problem, notes the Daily Mail. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
Increased awareness has taken off with high-profile cases such as Dame Deborah James, who died of bowel cancer aged 40 in 2022. Now, following news of the Princess of Wales, a surgeon has claimed that an unknown factor could be to blame. Professor Andrew Beggs, colorectal surgeon, consultant, and senior clinical researcher at the University of Birmingham, said: "There could be an unknown environmental factor that we haven't discovered despite extensive research. Young-onset cancer is by no means rare. I run an early-onset adult cancer clinic and we're seeing more and more people in their 40s with cancer," he added. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro)
In his opinion, other factors that could contribute to the increase are better methods of detecting cancer, awareness of symptoms and better screening for genetic conditions that increase the risk of cancer, such as the BRCA gene - which is Angelina Jolie's case. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro)
Maia Kennedy, 38, from Hackney, London, shared details of her own battle with cancer, which has similarities with that of the 42-year-old Princess of Wales.
Maia began suffering from nausea in December 2023, which her GP initially attributed to acid reflux. Following an emergency test, doctors found a tumor in her bowel during a colonoscopy. At the time it was thought to be precancerous.
The woman was later diagnosed with stage 1 bowel cancer after undergoing routine surgery to remove part of her bowel earlier this year. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
The Princess of Wales herself underwent planned abdominal surgery in January. Initially, doctors did not think it was cancerous, but tests later revealed otherwise. She began preventive chemotherapy in late February and did not mention the type of cancer she had. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
Other celebrities have also fallen victim to rising cancer cases.
Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer before the age of 50. Actress Oliva Munn, who is 43, recently revealed that she has breast cancer. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
Modern Family's Sofia Vergara, Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor and singer Kylie Minogue were also diagnosed with cancer before their 50th birthday. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro)
Figures from the UK show that while cancer rates have risen in all age groups, cases have risen much faster among young people.
According to Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the incidence rate among younger Britons (aged 25-49) is now 162.4 cases per 100,000 people each year. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro). This is 22% higher than the figure in the 1990s.
And the increase can't be dismissed as simply due to better cancer detection methods, experts say. By comparison, rates among over-75s, who account for around half of all cancers in the UK, rose by just 9% over the same period. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro)
Cases among people under 50 are still, statistically speaking, rare, accounting for just one in 10 cases of the disease in the UK.
However, the rate of increase, and the fact that scientists have so far been unable to identify the cause, worries experts. (source: dailymail.co.uk, adevarul.ro)
Oncologist Dr Shivan Sivakumar, from the University of Birmingham, described the situation as an "epidemic". "Currently, there is an epidemic of young people (under 50) getting cancer. The cause of this is not known, but we are seeing more patients suffering from abdominal cancer,” he said. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
Potential risk factors
"It's nothing to do with Covid or vaccines - it started happening long before that, experts say. It's probably due to lifestyle changes - obesity, high-fat diet, sedentary behavior, sitting at a desk all day, and of course better diagnostics. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
There also appears to be a gender divide in cancer rates among young people.
CRUK data shows that women in their 40s, like Kate, are twice as likely to get cancer as a man of the same age. A similar gender difference is also present among those diagnosed with cancer in their 30s and 40s. (source: dailymail.co.uk)
Diets high in red meat and low in fruit, as well as high alcohol consumption and tobacco use, are considered the main risk factors.
Experts have previously linked the rise of such processed diets in the Western world since the 1950s to an increase in diet-related cancers, such as bowel cancer, among young people. (source: dailymail.co.uk)