The number of bowel cancers is rising fastest among adults in their early forties, according to MailOnline’s analysis.
Experts admit they are baffled as to the cause of the ‘epidemic’ of the disease – long considered a disease of the elderly.
Although diagnoses are increasing among those over 50 as a whole, the alarming trend is not universal across all age groups.
NHS figures for England show that bowel cancer rates have risen the fastest among men aged 40 to 44 since Covid.
In 2019, 283 men in this age group were diagnosed with the disease.
This amounted to a rate of 16.6 per 100,000, or one in 6,000.
But in 2022, the most recent annual figures available, this rate has increased by 57 percent, with 26.1 diagnoses per 100,000 men aged 40 to 44.
This corresponds to the fact that one in 3,800 men in their early forties is diagnosed with the disease every year.
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Experts admit they are baffled as to what is causing the ‘epidemic’ of the disease – long considered a disease of the elderly
Women in the same age range had the second largest increase, with a 50 percent increase in a four-year period.
About 447 women aged 40 to 44 were told they had the disease in 2022 – the equivalent of one in 4,200.
Among those under 50, bowel cancer was still most common in those aged 45-49, reflecting what experts know about age as the biggest risk factor.
Researchers investigating this trend say the epidemic in England is one of the fastest growing in the world.
Amid a snowball effect, NHS chiefs have announced they will lower the screening age for bowel cancer to 50. It marks a huge victory for Dame Deborah James, who led the call for younger people to be screened for the disease. She died from the disease in 2022 at the age of 40.
Experts believe that poor diets full of more ultra-processed foods, obesity and a lack of exercise may be responsible for this alarming trend.
Some scientists believe that such factors may be the cause of “accelerated aging,” in which biological aging exceeds people’s actual age.
Professor Karol Sikora, a world-renowned oncologist with more than 40 years of experience, said that while the rise of cancer in young people still puzzles doctors, it is not a new phenomenon.
He told MailOnline: ‘There’s no doubt about it, it’s a real and profound change across the world.
‘It’s one that’s been going on for about thirty years and the whole trend seems to come back to lifestyle choices around diet and exercise.
‘Some are rising dramatically and we have no idea why – but there has clearly been a change in the rates of premature illness in young people.’
MailOnline’s analysis looked at all 14 overarching cancer groups, including pancreatic, lung and breast cancer.
Types that rarely affect younger adults, such as prostate and kidney, were excluded due to very small numbers.
For some types – such as eye cancer in baby girls – the increase was even greater than for colon cancer.
Still, the numbers were so low that experts said it was difficult to make sense of them.
Professor Pat Price, oncologist and chairman of Radiotherapy UK, warned that the growth of bowel cancer among young people is a ‘serious public health problem’.
She said: ‘It could take years for this trend to reverse and the Department of Health and the NHS have an immediate responsibility to ensure that higher cancer rates are met with appropriate investment in both diagnosis and treatment.
“Without urgent action to expand treatment capacity, more people will face a potentially fatal diagnosis without adequate access to life-saving care.”
Professor Price added: ‘It is also vital to dispel misinformation.
‘Covid vaccines do not cause cancer and to stay safe, people should prioritize attending cancer screening appointments when they are offered and choose healthier lifestyles.’
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Top doctors were also alarmed by the increase in the number of young women diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms due to its subtle symptoms that are harder to recognize until the later stages when it is more difficult to treat.
Only one in twenty patients is expected to survive ten years after diagnosis.
Thyroid cancer is also showing alarming growth among young women, especially among women between the ages of 20 and 24.
The subtype that grew the most, regardless of gender or age, was Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which saw growth in ten of 22 different age subtypes in men and women.
The disease affects the body’s lymphatic system, the part of the immune system responsible for fighting germs and diseases.
However, the condition has a relatively high survival rate, with NHS guidelines recommending that eight out of 10 people with the disease will live for at least five years and most will be cured.
The older you are, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with cancer. Sixty-six is the average age of diagnosis, statistics suggest.
Cancer Research UK found that almost 35,000 people aged 25 to 49 were diagnosed with cancer in 2019, more than ever before.