Why are colorectal, other GI cancers on the rise in younger people?
Increasing age is the greatest risk factor for all types of cancer, with most cases being diagnosed in people over the age of 60. However, in people under 50, there has been a rapid, worldwide increase in cancers of the digestive system, or gastrointestinal cancers. Although still far less common than in older people, early-onset colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men, and the second in women, in the United States. The exact cause is unknown, but the authors of a new review published in the British Journal of Surgery suggest that obesity, a Western-style diet, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, smoking, excessive alcohol use, and even exposure to microplastics, may all be contributing to the rise. Another study, published in Nature Medicine, has further estimated that, without early intervention, as many as 15.6 million gastric cancer cases may occur in the next few decades, most of which, are attributable to infection with a common bacterium, Helicobacter pylori.
