Is Cancer Getting Younger? Alarming Data Raises Concerns

United States: According to the scientists at the American Cancer Society, Gen-x and Millenials in the US have higher chances of developing seventeen of the thirty-four cancer types as compared to older generations. 

More about the news

The report suggests that almost 80,000 young adults whose ages lie between 20 to 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the US. 

The researchers stated, “Although we have identified cancer trends associated with birth years, we don’t yet have a clear explanation for why these rates are rising,” CBS News reported. 

Therefore, the findings raise a major question about whether cancer is becoming common in the younger generation. 

What more are the experts stating?

According to Dr. Jason Molitoris, an oncologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, “There is clear evidence that’s been published in the literature showing an increase in incidence in the number of cancers in younger people.” 

Is Cancer Getting Younger? Alarming Data Raises Concerns. Credit | Getty Images

Molitoris also urged individuals to have regular checkups of health and to get them done regularly. 

“What is next?” – Experts

According to a case study, in which a patient, Tiffany Walker-Jones, a Maryland mother of four, was shocked to be diagnosed with cancer.  

Tifanny, who is 38 years old, was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. 

She said, “I went through all the emotions of what’s going on. What’s going to happen? Am I going to survive this?,” reported CBS News. 

Moreover, weeks earlier, when Tifanny woke up with a left flank and made herself go for an immediate check up, she said, “Even the nurses thought it was just a kidney stone, and then they did the CT scan, and they found the mass on my liver, then they did an MRI, and they found a lesion on my spine.” 

Is Cancer Getting Younger? Alarming Data Raises Concerns. Credit | iStock

Diagnosis is hard to accept 

According to Dr. Jason Molitoris, “In my day-to-day practice, it’s also very noticeable,” and “I see a lot of patients who are younger coming in with cancers that we typically associate with patients who are of older ages.”  

However, it is unfortunate that Tiffany’s cancer is identified as one of the early-onset cancers in the study, where it is shared by a large number of young adults. 

Tiffany said, “I just asked, do I have an expiration date?” and “I think that is the first thing that comes to anybody’s mind when they hear ‘You have cancer.'” 

“What I try to do is give the patients a sense of what we’re going to be going through, and I try to give everybody a sense of hope,” Molitoris answered.