The alarming increase in cancer in young people

Being a disease that originates in living tissues, from cells that are constantly reproducing, the cancer It is a disease that has existed as long as living beings exist.

In humans, the oldest documentation that exists on cancer is the “Smith Papyrus”, acquired in 1862 in Luxor by the American Egyptologist Edwin Smith. The papyrus describes, in a very exact and scientific way, 48 health conditions. In case 45, the Egyptian physician Imhotep describes a breast tumor as a “cold hard fruit”, stating categorically that, when it appears, the doctor has nothing to offer. This is thought to be the oldest description of breast cancer.

However the cancer in ancient times it was a relatively rare disease, because having a very short life expectancy, it was considered that there was no time for people to develop the disease.

For this reason, when an explosive increase in the number of cases and deaths from cancer in the world began to be documented in the 20th century -in those over 50 years of age-, it was thought that, by living longer thanks to advances in health public, now people could develop cancer.

Back off like the crab

What the recent review reveals is a surprising and worrying reversal in the way the cancer occurs in humans. If it was believed that cancer originated as a degenerative disease in elderly people, the study shows that, at present, cancer is affecting more people under 50 years of age.

The study finds that between 2002 and 2012 cancers of the breast, colon and rectum, endometrium, esophagus, extrahepatic bile ducts, gallbladder, head and neck, kidney, liver, pancreas, prostate, stomach, thyroid, and bone marrow (myeloma multiple) have increased in those under 50 years of age in many countries. Eight of those cancers belong to the digestive system.

Obviously, the unknown is to know why such a worrying investment is happening.

probable causes

Although the increase in cases may be due to a greater number of routine tests in young people (the thyroid test is an example), it is very possible that during the last part of the last century, and so far this century, children and adolescents have been exposed to various types of physical and chemical elements that increased their risk of cancer.

“When in the 20th century an explosive increase in the number of cases and deaths from cancer in the world in people over 50 years of age began to be documented, it was thought that, by living longer, people could now develop cancer.”

This set of elements – known as the exposome – includes, among others, diet, tobacco, alcohol, lifestyle, obesity, and chemical substances in food and the environment. The authors also suggest that there is evidence that the microbiome (gut bacteria) has changed around the world since the mid-20th century.

The cancer epidemic in young people it would be another example of the increase in other chronic diseases related to lifestyle in recent years.

The case of colon cancer

For many years, more than 95% of cases of colon cancer occurred in men and women over 50 years of age. Due to this, early detection tests for this disease were indicated in people over 50 years of age.

Since for the last 25 years the incidence of colon cancer has increased in those under 50 years of age, the American Cancer Society has suggested that screening tests begin at age 45. That suggestion was adopted by the US Preventive Medicine Task Force, which mandated that change in 2021.

In a study published in “NEJM” in April 2022, it is reported that rates of colon cancer early they increased from almost 8 per 100,000 people to almost 13 per 100,000 in the US (an increase of 63%). Currently, 1 in 10 colon and rectal cancers in the US is diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50.

Let us remember the case of the journalist Micky Rospigliosi, who was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 43 and passed away at the age of 44.

Corollary

It is worrying to see how, while the young people of previous centuries did not suffer from cancerthose of now are doing it for their lifestyle.

Obesity, sedentary life, diabetes, alcohol abuse, smoking, environmental pollution, excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, Western diets rich in red meat and added sugars, night shift work and lack of sleep, increase the risk of developing cancer. Contaminants or additives in natural and industrialized foods still play an uncertain role.

The modification of these conditions depends, on the one hand, on public education to cause changes in individual behavior, and sensible public policies that favor healthier lifestyles of the population.