CLEVELAND, Oh – Cancer — for many it’s a battle in their 60s, 70s and 80s. But in the past decade, more and more people are being told they have cancer in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
It’s called early onset. And often before it’s diagnosed it’s in an advanced stage.
Although we hear a lot about the increase in colon cancer, including the recent announcement from actor James Van Der Beek, that’s not the only cancer that is targeting the young.
“I’ll have days where every patient that I’m seeing is younger than me, and that is shocking,” said Dr. Wells Messersmith, an oncologist at CU Anschutz.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cancer killer for men under 50 and No. 2 for women. With deaths among young adults expected to double by 2030.
“People are in college who have abdominal pain, they go to the emergency room and they have widespread colon cancer,” said Dr. Dale Shepard, an oncologist at Cleveland Clinic.
What’s to blame? Experts point to diet and lifestyle.
“We think obesity has something to do with it. Our diet’s highly processed food, red meats, and things. Lack of exercise and changes in microbiome,” explained Messersmith.
The World Health Organization has categorized processed meats, like hotdogs and burgers, as carcinogens. And some researchers believe artificial sweeteners may contribute to the problem.
“I’ve seen where maybe 6,000 food products may have aspartame,” Shepard said.
And a low-fiber diet combined with highly caffeinated energy drinks could be a dangerous mix.
Despite decades of decline linked to reduced smoking, 1 in 10 lung cancer diagnoses now affects non-smokers under 55. Bottom line: if you think something is wrong, check it out.
“If you wait and you find it late and you don’t have screening, you find it when it has already spread and it’s metastatic, it is virtually never cured,” Shepard warned.
The good news: Americans are more likely to survive a cancer diagnosis compared with people a generation ago. The five-year survival rate improved from 49% in the 70s to 68% today.