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Ivan Pourmir (medical oncologist)
According to an American study, more and more people under the age of 50 are struck by cancer, especially women. Increase in cases of breast cancer, gastrointestinal and endocrine cancers… how to explain this worrying trend? The answers of Dr Ivan Pourmir, medical oncologist at the Georges-Pompidou hospital (Paris).
Cancer strikes more often the elderly, but today an American study reveals that those under 50 are less and less spared. The increase in cancer cases is particularly noticeable among 30-39 year olds.
A 19% increase in cases among 30-39 year olds
Scientists collected data from more than 560,000 American patients under the age of 50 diagnosed with cancer between 2010 and 2019.
Overall, they found that 56,468 patients were diagnosed with cancer in 2019, compared to 56,051 in 2010. This trend is particularly marked in the 30-39 age group, with a 19% increase over the period !
Women more affected by this increase in cancers
According to Daniel Huang, assistant professor at the National University of Singapore and lead author of the study, “there have been significant increases in some types of cancer. Breast cancer, for example, accounted for the highest number of cancer cases in young people and increased by about 8% over the 10-year period”.
Gastrointestinal cancers, including colon, appendix and bile duct cancers, also increased by about 15% during this period, “making it the fastest growing type of cancer in young people“he added.
There are also significant differences between men and women. The number of cancers in young women increased by 4.4% during the study period, a trend driven by an increase in cases of breast and cervical cancers. In men, on the contrary, the number of cases has decreased by almost 5%.
Not one reason but several hypotheses
Without being able to give a clear explanation for this increase in the number of cancers in young people, experts put forward several hypotheses: possible reasons behind the trend, such as poor quality sleep and a sedentary lifestyle.
The increase in obesity and the consumption of processed products, but also other proven risk factors such as the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, a sedentary lifestyle, lack of sleep are all factors that come into play. “In addition to these factors, we must not forget the exposure to various pollutants and pesticides, such as glyphosate, which all probably play a role, it is moreover difficult to incriminate precisely one at the present time. explains first of all Ivan Pourmir, medical oncologist at the Georges-Pompidou hospital, in Paris.
Giving resources to research
For the doctor, we can act on an individual scale, by limiting our consumption of tobacco and alcohol, by eating foods from organic sources if possible and by practicing regular physical activity. But research also needs to advance to understand this increase. “It is only by giving researchers the means to carry out studies, in order to test hypotheses, that we can move forward. At the same time, it should be remembered that this is a public health problem that must be taken seriously by the public authorities. It is urgent to fight as quickly as possible against certain known risk factors, such as glyphosate or endocrine disruptors, on a large scale.” he concludes.