Poor diet and gut health are leaving the UK facing a surge in cancer cases in the under-50s, research suggests.
More young people than ever are getting cancer, with diagnosis rates rising by a quarter in two decades.
Around 100 younger people a day – 35,000 a year – are being diagnosed with rising numbers of cancers commonly seen in older people, such a bowel, breast and stomach.
Scientists believe the ‘disturbing’ trend may have a link to people eating too much ultra-processed food. Rising cases of bowel cancer, for example, may have an association with changes to the gut microbiome reducing the body’s ability to deal with pre-cancerous cells, according to research presented at the world’s biggest cancer conference.
Poor diet and gut health are leaving the UK facing a surge in cancer cases in the under-50s, research suggests (stock)
Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician (pictured)
Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said cancer still predominantly affects older people but scientists are alarmed at its rising presence in younger people.
At the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting he said: ‘Over recent decades, there has been a clear increase in cancer incidence rates in young adults in the UK.’ He added: ‘We don’t have a good answer as to why this is happening.’
The incidence rate of ‘early onset’ cases grew from 132.9 per 100,000 people in 1995 to 164.6 in 2019, analysis by Cancer Research UK of the most recent data shows.
The overall incidence rate across all ages increased 13 per cent, from 539 per 100,000 people to 611.5 during this timeframe.
The incidence rate of ‘early onset’ cases grew from 132.9 per 100,000 people in 1995 to 164.6 in 2019, analysis by Cancer Research UK of the most recent data shows (stock)
Around 100 younger people a day – 35,000 a year – are being diagnosed with rising numbers of cancers commonly seen in older people, such a bowel, breast and stomach (stock)
Research by Ohio State University presented at the Chicago meeting found under-50s with bowel cancer had cells that appeared to be 15 years older than their real age.
It suggests Western diets are impacting the balance of bacteria and inflammation in the gut, which can cause ‘accelerated ageing’ in the colon.
Dr Cathy Eng, a bowel cancer doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, said the rise of the disease among under-50s was being seen globally and that otherwise healthy patients are increasingly presenting with advanced bowel cancer in their 20s, 30s and early 40s.
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