The demographic with the fastest-growing early-onset cancer rates

A study found early-onset cancers are increasing in people under 50, and some cancers are more common than others.

By: Mariah Taylor

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from more than 562,100 people with early-onset cancer between 2010 and 2019.

Here are five key findings:

White people and women had the highest rates of early-onset cancer, with 62.5 percent of participants being women and 56 percent white.
The incident rate increased in women, but decreased in men.
The incident rate in people over 50 also decreased, while rates among people 30 to 39 increased during the study period.
The highest rate of incidents in 2019 were in breast cancer, but from 2010 to 2019, the highest rates were in gastrointestinal cancers, with 14.8 percent growth.
Among gastrointestinal cancers, the fastest-growing incident rates were in appendix, intrahepatic bile duct and pancreas.

Next Up in Oncology