For the first time in history, young adults are seeing cancer rates climb faster than older adults, the 13th International Cancer Conference hosted by Trinity College Dublin heard recently.
Speakers at the conference addressed, among other topics, the global surge in young-onset cancers, especially in colon cancer, which is now the leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women under 50 in the US. By 2030, colorectal cancer in 20-to-34 year-olds globally is projected to increase by 90 per cent. Young adults born in 1990 are twice as likely to get colorectal cancer than those born in 1950.
The 13th International Cancer Conference took place under the theme of ‘Transforming Cancer Research and Care – Changing Lives’. This biennial event brings together national and international clinical and scientific leaders from the cancer field.
Early-onset cancers are rising fast in Ireland. According to the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI), there has been an 87.5 per cent increase in early-onset oesophageal cases between the years of 1994-2022, a 44.1 per cent increase in gastric cases since 1994, while colorectal early onset cancer has seen a 171.3 per cent increase since 1994.
Dr Jose Perea-Garcia, Professor of Surgery at the European University of Madrid, Lead researcher for the Global Early onset Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GEOCODE) and an expert in young-onset colorectal cancer, said: “Given that early-onset cancers, and early-onset colorectal cancer in particular, are diseases with increasing incidence that affect a largely unscreened population, along with the corresponding psychosocial impact they generate, all our efforts must focus on transforming research and clinical care by generating new knowledge about this subgroup of early-onset cancers.
“By improving our understanding of the underlying risk and biological mechanisms, progressive findings can contribute to more precise prevention and earlier detection to identify population at risk of developing this subtype of cancer, and improved treatment strategies, with potential implications for colorectal cancer in general.”
