Cancer researchers on Wednesday announced troubling new nationwide findings: Millennials and Generation X Americans have shown a higher risk of getting cancer when young than Baby Boomers did, according to a study published yesterday in the journal The Lancet Public Health.
The big question, the study says, now must be answered: Why?
The study found adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s are more likely than previous generations were, at those ages, to develop 17 different types of cancers, including breast, pancreatic and gastric cancers.
The study examined the health records of 23.6 million Americans born from 1920 until 1990 who were diagnosed with 34 types of cancer. The study grouped people by their birth year because they’re more likely to share social, economic and environmental factors during key developmental years.
Researchers found 17 of the 34 cancer types were seen to rise in successive generations when compared to Baby Boomers, born 1946-64. The generations where the higher risk was seen were Generation X, born 1965-80; and Millennials born 1981-96.
In particular, the incidence rate was approximately two to three times higher in the 1990 birth cohort than in the 1955 birth cohort for pancreatic, kidney and small intestinal cancers in both men and women; and for liver cancer in women.
The death rate from some cancers was also seen to be higher in the younger generations. Mortality rates increased in successively younger birth groups alongside incidence rates for liver cancer in women, uterine corpus, gallbladder, testicular, and colorectal cancers. Cancer researchers have been warning of an alarming and unexplained increase in colorectal cancer in younger people for several years.
Researchers say genetics can’t explain the rise; it is almost certainly something concerning the environment or lifestyles that changed recently — perhaps PFAS, know as the “forever chemicals” or video screens fueling the childhood obesity epidemic. Such suspects now need to be scientifically investigated to see which have high impact, said Hyuna Sung, the American Cancer Society’s senior principal scientist for cancer surveillance research and lead author of the study.
But until causes can be found, Sung told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there are things that people can change to reduce their risk. Some are especially relevant for Georgia.
When it comes to surrounding kids with a healthy lifestyle, it’s policymakers and parents who make weighty decisions for them: “Those are really done by adults,” she said. Obesity is squarely linked to cancer risk generally, and 17% of Georgia high school students are obese, a number higher than average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are other things that can be done now to offer kids a better chance against cancer going forward, especially when it comes to fighting obesity, Sung said. Schools, cities and states can build more active neighborhoods and more opportunities for physical activity as an alternative to screen time. And kids can be surrounded by better nutrition in schools and neighborhoods. For example, Sung said, In Georgia as of 2020 data, 32% of secondary schools allowed students to purchase soda pop or fruit drinks from one or more vending machines or at the school store, canteen, or snack bar. That’s one of the highest in the nation and substantially higher than 4% in Massachusetts.
Sung also noted Georgia’s traditionally high rate of uninsured poor adults could contribute to cancer concerns. In Georgia, experts have tied that to the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, the government health insurance for the poor, to all poor adults. Instead, only a few categories of poor adults can qualify. That leaves perhaps 290,000 Georgians from the age of 20 to 64 uninsured. Those may include young adults as well as parents of young children.
“This increasing trend of cancers in younger generations also (is an argument for) the expansion of Medicaid in every state to ensure that people of all ages have access to affordable care,” Sung said.
“Those cancers that occur in young adults need to be detected,” she said. “Early detection and treatment and survivorship will be a lot more accessible to people where there is more insurance.”
“The increasing cancer burden among younger generations underscores the importance of ensuring people of all ages have access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance, a key factor in cancer outcomes,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “To that end, ACS CAN will continue our longstanding work to urge lawmakers to expand Medicaid in states that have yet to do so as well as continue to advocate for making permanent the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies that have opened the door to access to care for millions.”
While the findings are concerning, cancer is still more common among people over age 50.
The American Cancer Society’s CEO Karen E. Knudsen said that previous data has suggested up to 40% of cancers could be preventable through behavior modification, including more physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a balanced diet. Speaking Thursday on ABC’s Good Morning America, she also advised people to not ignore unusual symptoms, even if they’re considered too young to be at risk for cancer.
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