Diets high in red meat, salt and alcohol to blame as cancer cases in under-50s surge by 80 per cent globally since 1990, researchers suggest
- Experts say diets high in red meat, salt and alcohol increase cancer growth
- Cancer Research UK says advances in care have helped save 1.2 million lives in Britain
Obesity and alcohol are causing a worrying rise in cancer rates among the over-50s, a study suggests.
Research shows that the number of cases among younger cancer patients has increased by 79 percent in the past thirty years.
The growth is particularly prominent in wealthy countries such as the UK, suggesting that lifestyle factors are largely to blame.
Researchers analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study for 29 cancers across 204 countries and regions.
They looked at new cases, deaths, health consequences and risk factors in people aged 14 to 49, estimating an annual rate for each year.
Scientists say genetics play a role in the rise in cancer rates, but point to lifestyle factors that contribute. They say diets high in salt, tobacco and alcohol are the main risk factors underlying the most common cancers among those under 50.
Ten-year survival rates for common cancers are now above 50 percent, and experts say further improvements can be made over the next decade.
In 2019, there were 3.26 million new cancer diagnoses under the age of 50, an increase of 79.1 percent since 1990.
The largest increases have been in prostate and trachea cancer, at 2.28 percent and 2.23 percent annually, respectively — or more than 66 percent since 2019.
Breast cancer made up the bulk of cases: 13.7 per 100,000 people, according to findings published in the BMJ.
Scientists said genetics likely play a role, but lifestyle factors also contributed.
Diets high in red meat and salt, and low in fruit and milk, along with alcohol consumption, tobacco use, physical inactivity and high blood sugars, are the main risk factors underlying the most common cancers among young people under the age of 50.
About two-thirds of adults and one in three children are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school, which is among the worst in the world.
While the level of progress in cancer survival has been rapid in some forms of the disease, such as breast and prostate cancer, others, such as those in lung and pancreas, have improved only at a snail’s pace.
But dr. Xue Li, from the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute who led the study, said while early-onset cancer in Britain showed an upward trend between 1990 and 2010, overall incidence remained stable between 2010 and 2019.
She said: ‘Fortunately, the annual death rate from early onset cancer in Britain has been falling steadily, a testament to the outstanding efforts in cancer screening and treatment over the last 30 years.’
It comes after the charity Cancer Research UK claimed that advances in cancer care have helped save 1.2 million lives in Britain since the mid-1980s.
The figure includes an estimated 560,000 fewer lung cancer deaths, 236,000 gastric cancer deaths, 224,000 colon cancer deaths, and 17,000 breast cancer deaths.
Dr. Claire Knight, senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘It’s not entirely clear what’s driving the rise in early-stage cancers, but exposure to risk factors in early life, better cancer detection and genetics may all play a role. part.’
She added: “We need more research to explore the causes of early cancer for specific types of cancer, such as our BCAN-RAY study which is looking for new ways to identify younger women at higher risk of breast cancer.”