Study: Global cancer cases in under-50s soar by nearly 80% over 3 decades

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If you’re eating yourselves to death, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and using tobacco without engaging in proper physical activity, then that might be alarming.

Over the last three decades, global cancer cases in under-50s have had a drastic surge of 79.1 percent—a massive jump from 1.82 million to 3.26 million cases, according to a study published in the journal BMJ Oncology.

Furthermore, it points out that cancer was responsible for the deaths of over a million people under the age of 50 in 2019, marking a 28 percent increase from the figures reported in 1990. The research also says early-onset cancers on organs like breast, tracheal, bronchus and lung, stomach and colorectal resulted in the highest mortality and burden in the same year.

Since the 1990s, there have been indications from earlier studies noting that the occurrence of cancers affecting different organs in adults under the age of 50 has been increasing in numerous regions across the world.

The risk factors of cancer

The study further projects that among the main contributing risk factors underlying early-onset cancers are “dietary risk factors (diet high in red meat, low in fruits, high in sodium and low in milk, etc), alcohol consumption and tobacco use.”

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While some of the risk factors seem evident and common, the surge has not been fully explained as “the increasing trend of early-onset cancer burden is still unclear” for them.

“Countries with a high-middle and middle Socio-demographic Index and individuals aged 40–49 years were particularly affected,” the study reveals, indicating that the highest rates of cancer among people under-50s were in the developed countries. They further discuss that the reason could be because “wealthy countries have better health care systems and catch the disease earlier.”

Meanwhile, the study encourages everyone to practice a healthy lifestyle to reduce early-onset cancer disease burden.