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We’re used to thinking of cancer as a disease of older adults, but there is an alarming new trend in the diagnosis of new cancers: it’s occurring in unprecedented numbers in younger adults under the age of 50 years. It’s also concerning that young women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer as young men, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Historically, men have a higher incidence of cancer than women. Early this century, cancer rates among men were on the rise but now have leveled out. Among women, however, the incidence of cancers is increasing, and the rate has surpassed men. Breast and thyroid cancer are most prevalent in women, especially younger women, according to Rebecca Siegel, lead author of the report and senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. About half of the cancers in younger women are breast or thyroid.

In 2021, in the U.S., women younger than 50 years had an 82% greater cancer incidence than their male peers, the ACS reported. Data was obtained from the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.

Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the ACS said, in a CNN statement, that for the first time, a woman under age 65 is more likely to develop cancer than a man of the same age. He noted, also, that there is a change in the age at which people develop cancer. Age, however, is still the greatest risk factor for cancer, but the only age group in which cancer risk is on the rise is in patients under 50.

The new report shows that racial disparities persist. In the U.S., Black women have a 4% lower occurrence of breast cancer than White women, but are 41% more likely to die from the disease, consistent with previous data. According to Dahut, the disparity is greatest in the younger population.

There are also geographic differences in both cancer incidence and outcomes. The rates of people dying from cancer ranges from 150 deaths per 100,000 people in Utah, Hawaii, and New York to more than 210 per 100,000 people in West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

Some of the new statistics are reason for optimism.

Cancer survival rates overall are increasing. The new report states that cancer mortality continues to fall. From 1991 through 2022, 4.5 million deaths were averted. The result was an overall drop in mortality of 34%. So, while more women are being diagnosed with cancer, fewer are dying of the disease.

The fall in cancer deaths is attributed to several conditions. High on the list is the reduction in smoking. So is the earlier detection of some cancers, as well as the development of new treatment options. These include new immunotherapy drugs and targeted treatments.

Physicians are trying to determine the reason behind the trend for the rising incidence of cancer in women. They speculate that some of the reason is just getting better at screening and detecting cancers but consider factors putting people at growing risk. These include obesity, alcohol consumption, and a lack of physical activity. Defining the causes will indicate ways to reduce the risk among younger adults. Scientists agree that greater understanding is needed to prevent cancer.

The rise in cancer in younger people has significant bearings on the future of cancer care, as some types of cancer in young people may be more aggressive. These will have to be dealt with while these patients have young families and active career paths. It may be necessary to develop chemotherapy that is less disruptive to young lives and their family and work circumstances.

So, what can you do for you? You’ve heard it all before: eat a diet that emphasizes plants and low fat, maintain a normal weight, exercise at least 150 minutes per week, sleep seven to nine hours per night, avoid alcohol and tobacco, practice gratitude, and volunteer.