Cancer rates rise to younger adults and researchers want to know why

Cancer increases in people under 50, but not in all types and not in all age groups. This comprehensive study reveals where and why cancer rates go up, laying the foundations for previous prevention and smarter detection.

Study: Trends of the incidence of cancer and mortality in age groups and older starts in the United States, 2010-2019. Credit Picture: Photos CI / Shutterstock

Researchers at the National Institute of Health (NIH) have completed a comprehensive analysis of cancer statistics for different age groups in the United States and found that from 2010 to 2019 the frequency of 14 types of cancer increased among people aged 50 years. However, the incidence of 19 other types of cancer, including lung cancer and prostate cancer, decreased among people under 50 years of age, so the total rate of all cancers diagnosed with both younger and older groups did not increase the death rate.

Among 2.020,829 early onset cancers diagnosed during this period, 63.2% were in women. The most common cancers of early onset were breast, thyroid and melanoma in women and colon, testicles and melanoma in men.

“This study provides a starting point for understanding which cancers are increasing between people under the age of 50,” said lead researcher Meredith Shiels, Ph.D. of the NIH National Institute of Cancer. “The causes of these increases are likely to be specific to cancer, including cancer risk factors that become more common at younger ages, changes in cancer or detection control, and updates on clinical diagnosis or cancer coding.”

The study appeared on May 8, 2025, in the magazine Discovery of cancer.

Researchers examined the impact and mortality trends for 33 types of cancer, including the impact data for 2010-2019 from the CDC Cancer Statistics database, including Cancer Registry data representing the entire US population and mortality data for 2010-2022. The data was analyzed in six age groups: three early execution (15-29 years, 30-39 years and 40-49 years old) and three earlier appearances (50-59 years, 60-69 years and 70-79 years old).

The incidence of 14 of the 33 types of cancer has increased to at least one of the younger age groups. The incidence of nine of these 14 types has also increased to at least one of the age groups: female breasts, colon, kidney, testicles, uterine syndrome, pancreatic, β-cell β-cell precursor,

Although mortality rates have not increased in early onset of age groups for most of these cancers, researchers have noticed the increase in colon and uterus cancer death rates. In addition, testicular cancer and bone and joint cancer have also shown increased mortality in at least one age group.

Only five types of cancer have increased at a incidence of one of the younger age groups, but not between any of the older age groups: melanoma, cervical cancer, stomach cancer, plasma cell neoplasms (including myeloma).

To understand the magnitude of increases with regard to absolute numbers, researchers estimate how many additional people were diagnosed with early onset cancers in 2019 compared to expected diagnoses based on rates in 2010 (500). Female breast, colon, kidney and uterine cancers contributed to more than 80% of early starting cancers in 2019.

These descriptive data may update future cancer research and control strategies. For example, recent guidelines for control over breast and colon cancer have been informed to start from younger ages, partly due to these increasing trends.

Researchers have speculated that risk factors, such as increasing obesity, may have contributed to some of the increases in the incidence of early onset cancer in recent years. Changes in the directional lines for cancer control, developments in imaging technologies and increased high -risk monitoring may also have led to previous cancer diagnoses, possibly contributing to increased rates between younger age groups.

In order to fully understand and tackle these rising rates, the authors have said that future studies should consider trends in early onset cancers in all demographics and geography in the US and internationally. Additional research is also needed to better understand the risk factors that are particularly related to younger ones.

A remarkable force of the study was the use of impact and mortality data at national level, as well as estimates for excessive cases in 2019, which provided a framework missing in previous analyzes. However, one limit was the absence of individual level data on risk factors, sorting behaviors or access to health care, which limits the ability to detect the causes of increasing the achievement of the frequency of immediate appearance.

The study was funded by the intramuscular research program of the National Institute of Cancer and the Cancer Institute. Shiels did not say conflicts of interest.