Here’s another reason for a midlife crisis: Surprising new research suggests that Gen X and millennial Americans are at higher risk of developing 17 cancers than older generations.
American Cancer Society researchers calculated generational cancer rates based on 23.6 million cancer cases and 7.3 million cancer deaths from 2000 to 2019.
Among the findings: Incidence rates for small bowel, kidney and pancreatic cancer were two to three times higher for people born in the early 90s than in the late 50s.
Women born in the late 50s also fared better than their millennial counterparts in terms of liver cancer and mouth and throat cancer caused by factors other than human papillomavirus.
The analysis was published Wednesday in the Lancet Public Health.
“These findings add to the growing evidence of increased cancer risk in post-Baby Boomer generations, expanding on previous findings of early-onset colorectal cancer and some obesity-related cancers to include a wider range of types of cancer,” said the main author of the study, Dr. Hyuna Sung, senior principal scientist of surveillance science and health equity.
The researchers say they don’t have a clear explanation for why these rates are rising, although they noted that 10 of the 17 cancers on the rise in younger generations are linked to obesity.
“The data highlight the critical need to identify and address underlying risk factors in Gen X and millennial populations to inform prevention strategies,” said senior study author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, ACS senior vice president, health equity surveillance and science.
The ACS recently stated that 40% of cancer cases and nearly half of cancer deaths in American adults 30 and older could be prevented with a lifestyle change such as losing weight or quitting smoking.
The World Health Organization predicts over 35 million new cases of cancer in 2050, a 77% increase from the estimated 20 million cases in 2022.
17 cancers with increasing incidence in younger generations
- Colorectal
- Endometrial
- Gall bladder
- KIDNEY
- Pancreas
- Myeloma (plasma cell cancer)
- Gastric noncardia (a type of stomach cancer)
- Testicular
- Leukemia
- Gastric cardia (where the esophagus and stomach meet)
- Small intestine
- Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer
- ovary
- Liver cancer in women
- Non-HPV-related mouth and throat cancer in women
- Cancer of the anus in men
- Kaposi’s sarcoma (a rare type of soft tissue tumor) in men
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