Young people should pay attention to six key factors to avoid falling victim to a growing cancer epidemic, according to a major report.
They should avoid overuse of antibiotics, eat red meat no more than three times a week, use condoms and avoid binge drinking, the nation’s largest cancer research organization said.
Rising rates of multiple cancers in young people are front and center for the American Association for cancer Research’s new annual report was published last night.
Cancer is thought to be caused by a combination of your genetics and your environment, but about 40 percent of all diagnosed cases can be traced back to one of these risk factors, according to the report. Cervical cancer, for example, is linked to the STD human papillomavirus.
Early-onset cancers in the US have has been increasing since 1995, including the colon, rectum, cervix, prostate, breast and endometrium.
The AACR report estimates that, across all ages, two million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the US by 2024.
Of these, about 4.2 percent will be in people between the ages of 18 and 50, who are traditionally considered too young to develop cancer.
Cancer is thought to be caused by an unfortunate combination of your genes and your environment.
Still, ACCR scientists said about 40 percent of all cases can be linked to six different modifiable risk factors.
For young people, these include: unhealthy diet, obesity, environmental chemicals, antibiotics, alcohol and sedentary behaviours.
For starters, only about a quarter of adults and one in six high school students meet the CDC recommended exercise guidelines.
The agency says everyone should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, such as running, swimming or playing sports, and two days of muscle-strengthening activities, such as lifting weights or squatting.
Low levels of exercise during youth are associated with the risk of developing cancer in adulthood.
The report also highlighted diet as one of the main drivers of cancer in young people.
Specifically, diets that are based on red meat, highly processed foods lacking fresh produce, are worrisome, AACR scientists said.
These recommendations lead the group to say that no more than three portions of red meat should be eaten per week.
They also say that processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon and salami should not be included in a regular diet, as they have been linked to an increased risk of multiple cancers.
Teens and young adults tend to have less nutritious diets than older adults, opting for the convenience found in fast food.
Forty-five percent of young American adults reported consuming fast food daily between 2013 and 2017, compared to 37 percent of adults over 40.
“Reducing or eliminating consumption of highly processed foods, fast food, and foods and beverages high in sugar is essential to curbing the obesity epidemic and reducing the burden of associated cancers,” the report said.
They also recommend avoiding drinks – such as soft drinks, juices, canned coffees and energy drinks – that have added sugars. They have been linked to liver, colon and diabetes.
Studies have shown that consuming one or more sugary drinks a day increased someone’s odds of developing liver cancer by 1.8 times more than those who did not.
In response to these findings, the AACR report highlighted solutions such as a sugar tax.
In general, cases of early-onset cancer, defined as those between the ages of 18 and 50, have been increasing in the US since 1995.
The latest data from the NCI on colorectal cancer only goes to 2021, as does the most recent report from the AACR. The AACR is independent of the NCI and is a publicly funded charity
This method, currently used in eight US jurisdictions, places a higher price on beverages made with added sugar.
Using this tax significantly reduced the amount of sugary drinks consumed in the areas, research from the The obesity evidence center concluded.
After sugar, the researchers targeted alcohol.
Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of six different types of cancer (head and neck, throat, breast, colorectal, liver and stomach) and has been linked to 5.4 percent of all cancers in the US.
Young adults who consumed a large amount of alcohol in adulthood had a 1.5-fold increased risk of colorectal cancer under the age of 50.
“Unfortunately, awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer is still low,” the report says.
Alcohol affects each part of the body differently, but in general it can increase the risk of cancer by making it harder for our cells to respond to damage and change, making them more likely to mutate into formations cancerous according to Cancer Research UK.
Also, drinking alcohol can temporarily wear down the cells in your mouth and throat, making them more permeable to other cancer-causing chemicals, such as cigarette smoke.
All of these factors can increase a person’s likelihood of becoming overweight and obese.
Being overweight was linked to 7.6 percent of all cancers in the US. Obesity is on the rise in the United States, rising 37 percent since 2000 to about 41.9 percent in 2020.
There are 15 different types of cancer linked to being overweight or obese, from blood to brain to bladder.
Losing weight can be an effective way to reduce the risk of obesity-related cancers.
The report said previous medical interventions that reduce cancer, such as weight loss surgery, has been shown to be particularly effective, and they are monitoring how newer treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy can also help prevent cancer.
In addition to these everyday habits, the researchers said other medical conditions may be contributing to the rise in cancers in young people.
This includes the overuse of antibiotics.
Dr. Foti, the AACR’s executive director, said she hopes this will spur federal investment in cancer research, which she says has begun to see “extraordinary advances” in recent years.
Early signs of colorectal cancer include changes in bowel habits, abdominal cramps, weight loss and fatigue. These are symptoms common to many other diseases as well, which means that the disease can be difficult to catch
Taking antibiotics for an extended period of time can affect the unique biology of the gastrointestinal system, known as the microbiome.
This bacterial layer helps protect the gut from damage and respond to infection and disease, and can be harmed by long-term antibiotic use. This could allow the cancer to settle more easily in the intestine, the researchers theorized
Studies have shown that people under 50 who took antibiotics were 1.5 times more likely to develop colon cancer, while people over 50 in the same scenario were only 1.1 times more likely to develop the disease
In addition to antibiotics, the report highlights the effect of not receiving vaccines against the human papillomavirus, a highly contagious STD linked to head, neck, throat, cervical and mouth cancers.
A number of vaccines are available for teenagers to prevent HPV, and have been shown to be almost 100% effective in preventing girls from developing cervical cancer later in life.
But in the US, only 38% of children had received one or more doses of this vaccine, compared with 76% of children in the UK and 84% in Australia.
Finally, the AACR report highlighted the risk of being exposed to chemicals in the environment, but did not specify which chemicals.
For example, previous investigations of the National Cancer Institute has linked drinking water containing nitrates, a chemical made when fertilizer is exposed to air, to colorectal cancers.
Despite these challenges, Dr. Margaret Foti, AACR CEO, said her report shows that in most other groups, cancer prevention has worked. US regulators approved 15 different new cancer treatments this year alone.
He said he wants these findings to help spur more national investment in research.
Dr. Foti said: We hope the 14th edition will help increase knowledge about cancer and raise awareness of the urgency of federal support for scientific and medical research.