Worrying are the scientific facts about the appearance cancer in young ages. Epidemiological data show in recent years an increase in the incidence of certain neoplasms in young adults. This mainly concerns neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract.

The change in exposure to specific risk factors such as obesitythe smokingthe eating habits and the diabetes mellitus over the past two decades it has been hypothesized to be responsible for this increase.

However, as emphasized by the doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic (Alexandra Hospital) Theodora Psaltopoulos (Pathologist, Professor of Therapeutics-Epidemiology-Preventive Medicine), Michalis Liontos (Assistant Professor of Oncology), and Thanos Dimopoulos (former Rector of EKPA, Professor of Therapeutics – Oncology – Hematology, Director of Therapeutic Clinic) understanding the high-risk groups for the occurrence of these neoplasms among young adults can help identify causative factors and develop methods for early cancer detection.

In this direction, an important study was recently published in the journal BMC Cancer that investigated the change in the incidence of pancreatic cancer as well as a number of other neoplasms in adults younger than 35 years in the twenty years 2000-2020. The analysis was based on the data present in the database The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEERS) where approximately 50% of cancer cases in the United States are recorded.

The principle analysis for pancreatic cancer showed that the greatest increase in the incidence of the neoplasm was seen in women aged 18-34 years, where the average annual increase in incidence was 6.2%.

In this group of patients, the increase was several times higher than the rate found for the 35-55 age group (1.5%) and for people over 55 (0.6%). In fact, the rate of increase in pancreatic cancer in young women was significantly higher than in young men (4%), highlighting a difference between the sexes.

Young women

A greater increase in the incidence of cancer in young women was also found in other neoplasms such as stomach cancerof colon and the multiple myeloma. In fact, this change was specific to the specific neoplasms and not in the context of a more general increase in cancer in young women, as in all neoplasms but also in neoplasms that concern only women (breast cancer, ovarian cancer, etc.) no corresponding changes were found.

Trying to further understand the phenomenon of racial difference in the increase in the incidence of certain cancers in young adults, the researchers studied the change in age subgroups.

In pancreatic and colon cancer, the greatest increase was seen in women aged 18-26, while in stomach cancer and multiple myeloma in the 27-34 age group.

“Therefore, the above data clearly demonstrate racial variation in the occurrence of a range of neoplasms in young adults. These data highlight the need to study a number of risk factors in young adults who develop cancer, particularly childhood obesity. Hormonal and genetic factors may also contribute to this difference, but the most important thing based on this knowledge is to develop programs for the early diagnosis of these cancers in young adults who are also a high-risk group”, emphasize the EKPA experts.