Now doctors warn another cancer is rising at ‘double speed’ in young people

The early-onset colon cancer epidemic has gripped the nation in recent years.

But doctors are warning about the rise of another form of the disease in young people.

A report today by the American Cancer Society found rates of breast cancer among women younger than 50 rose one percent between 2012 and 2021. 

Rates of the disease are rising sharply in younger white women. 

In the past 10 years breast cancer has risen 1.4 percent in white under-50s, compared to 0.7 percent in over-50s, or double the rate.

Olivia Munn revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 43 and just three months after a mammogram gave her the all-clear. She is now sharing her cancer battle online

The above graph indicates how breast cancer rates have risen by one percent every year across all age groups but slightly faster among women under 50 years old

An even steeper increase was observed among Asian women under 50 years old, who saw rates of breast cancer rise by 2.7 percent from 2012 to 2021. 

Dr Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, told CNN: ‘If we look at the last decade or so, we’ve seen breast cancer incidence rise at about one percent year-over-year, and the steepness of that increase does not affect all women in this case equally.

‘There is a slightly higher increase in the rate of breast cancer diagnoses for women who are under age 50 versus those that are above age 50.’

She added: ‘These are things that we are watching to try to understand.’

Olivia Munn is among the women in their 40s to have been diagnosed with the disease, after revealing in March that she was diagnosed with the cancer last year at the age of 43 years — just two months after a mammogram said she was all clear. 

The report, published this week, found that about 310,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

Of these, an estimated 13,180, about four percent, are under 40 years old, while 37,650 are in their 40s.

It was not clear why rates were rising in younger women, but Dr Ahmedin Jemal, who co-authored the study, said that changes in women’s reproductive habits may be behind the shift. 

He said more were delaying childbearing and having fewer children or no children at all. Many were also not breastfeeding, and also experiencing earlier menstruation.

Argentine actress Soledad Fandiño (lef) revealed Monday via Instagram that she is recovering from breast cancer surgery, after being diagnosed at age 42. Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel, 43, has also revealed her own breast cancer diagnosis

The above graph shows age-specific breast cancer incidence in women from 2017 to 2021

The above graph shows age-specific breast cancer mortality in women from 2018 to 2021

All these factors increase a woman’s exposure to estrogen and progesterone, he told the New York Times, hormones made by the ovaries that can stimulate cell growth.

Doctors also warned that younger women tend to be diagnosed with breast cancer later, when the disease may be harder to treat.

Screening for the disease is recommended starting at age 40, and continuing every two years until the age of 74.

British mother-of-two Roisin Pelan revealed she was ticking off her bucket list after being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42 and being told she just had three years left to live

The report also found while more women are being diagnosed with the cancer than ever, the fatality rates are falling. 

They said it dropped about 44 percent between 1989 to 2022, translating to 517,900 fewer deaths- with women diagnosed with the cancer later in life more likely to die than their younger peers.

The report found 0.1 percent of women diagnosed with the cancer between the ages of 20 and 30 died from the disease. and nearly two percent of people in their 40s died.

Mortality was highest – 4.2 percent – in people in their 70s.  

It fits into a wider trend of surging colon cancer cases among young people in the US that has caught doctors and medical experts off guard.

Rates among people under 50 have been rising by about two percent every year since the early 2000s with the US now having the sixth highest rate of early-onset colon cancers globally.

Initially, doctors blamed rising obesity rates and highly-processed diets for the uptick in colon cancers among young adults. 

But in recent years, as more cases have emerged in healthy and active individuals and vegetarians, a number have changed tract and now suggested it could be a common substance — like a food additive — in the environment. 

Former Argentine actress Soledad Fandiño is using her recent breast cancer diagnosis to raise awareness. The 42-year-old shared a series of pictures on her Instagram last Friday of her recovering from surgery and waited until Monday to reveal for the first time that she was recovering from the disease 

Last week Dr Maria Abreu, who is on the frontlines of the colon cancer crisis, revealed two additives to DailyMail.com that could be behind the rise.

The first was high-fructose corn syrup, a liquid sweetener commonly used in the US and other countries, which has found its way into many healthy products because it is cheaper than sugar.

And the other was emulsifiers, deployed to give food its creamy texture and often found in healthy foods such as low-fat yoghurts, cottage cheese and peanut butter.

Breast cancer is a condition that occurs when cells in the breast start to divide uncontrollably, and is diagnosed in more than one in ten women at some point in their lives.

Early warning signs include a new lump on the breast or underarm, a thickening or swelling in the breast and changes in its shape or size.

Treatment may include surgery to cut out the cancer or chemotherapy to eradicate cancerous cells from other areas of the body.