ISLAMABAD:Cancer is increasing in younger age groups, largely because of poor lifestyle choices, diet and obesity, a global oncology review concluded.
But researchers also say the greater incidence could be the result of better screening programmes
The report, published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal, showed a significant increase in many types of cancer in those aged 50 or younger, including cancer of the breast, colon, oesophagus, kidney, liver and pancreas.
Scientists from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston in the US, evaluated the incidence of early onset cancers across several decades, The National reported .
The review found the incidence of cancers in those under 50 has been rising in many parts of the world since the 1990s.
In the past we have not seen this high number, so we are trying to understand if this is a true figure or a result of better screening and medical conditions, said Dr Humaid Al Shamsi, Emirates Oncology Society president.
Changes in diet, lifestyle, obesity rates, environment and the microbiome microbes that are both helpful and potentially harmful and might interact with our genes are said to contribute to the higher rates of cancer in younger people.
The study’s senior author, Dr Shuji Ojino, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham Women’s Hospital, said the younger generation is facing a higher risk for many chronic diseases.
Cancer is just the tip of the iceberg, he said. Several oncology studies dating back to the 1990s were evaluated for the study.
A focus was placed on specific cancers, and how common they were in young people.
They also looked at risk factors during early life and young adulthood.
Increased use of screening programmes contributed to the phenomenon to a certain extent, although a genuine increase in the incidence of early-onset forms of several cancer types has also emerged, the report said.
Cancer risk varies depending on age group.
According to the American Cancer Society, people under 25 have a higher chance of lymphoma (a cancer of the lymphatic system), while women under 30 are more at risk from melanoma (the most serious type of skin cancer). Breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer diagnoses, meanwhile, are more common after 25.