Cancer rates in under-50s rising sharply across multiple types, WCRF warns
A World Cancer Research Fund analysis of NHS data found prostate cancer in men under 50 has more than tripled since 2001, with bowel, kidney, womb and liver cancers also rising steeply.
LONDON — Rates of prostate cancer in men under 50 have more than tripled since 2001, part of a mysterious rise in several cancers among younger adults, according to a World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) analysis of NHS data in England, The Times reported.
The charity compared diagnoses in 2001 with 2023. Prostate cancer cases in men under 50 rose from 158 to 640 — from one case per 100,000 to 3.6 per 100,000. Bowel cancer in young adults doubled, from 3.9 to 8.4 cases per 100,000, while kidney cancer doubled from 1.5 to 3 per 100,000.
In women, womb cancer rose from 1.8 to 3.9 per 100,000 under-50s, and breast cancer — the most common cancer in young women — increased from 6,886 cases in 2001 to 8,507 in 2023. Liver and pancreatic cancers also rose slightly. Figures from Cancer Research UK show overall cancer incidence in 25 to 49-year-olds increased 24 per cent between the early 1990s and 2019.
“These figures should make us pause and think because this current trajectory is concerning,” said Dr Giota Mitrou, WCRF’s executive director of research and policy. “Behind every figure is a person facing cancer earlier than they, their family and often their doctor would expect.”
Experts are unsure what is driving the increase, but suspect changes in gut bacteria linked to diet and antibiotic use, as well as air pollution and obesity. The WCRF has called for more research and is recruiting 250,000 adults for a long-term diet and lifestyle tracking study.
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