11 cancers that are on the rise in kids, teens, and young adults

In the 25 years from 1988 to 2012, hepatoblastoma cases soared in tots from 0 to 4 years old.

Cases of leukemia, neuroblastoma, and ependymal tumors are also increasing in babies and toddlers, according to research released by the University of Minnesota in April 2019.

Getting cancer at a younger age also affects their ability to be productive at work and school, and can be a great financial burden as young people are more are more likely than older patients to lack health insurance or experience disruptions in their coverage, Stacey Fedewa, an epidemiologist said during the American Association for Cancer Research's 2020 virtual meeting.

Contracting diseases early in life can increase a person's risk of developing cancer. For example, some viruses trigger genetic changes in cells that can contribute to cancer later on.

The recommended HPV vaccine and hepatitis shots combat future cases of cervical and liver cancer, respectively.

Most cancer cases in people under 30 "appear to be spontaneous" and not hereditary or environmental, a group of childhood cancer experts wrote in The Oncologist in 2006.

"It turns out that the fat tissue is a very active organ and it plays a very important role in storing and releasing energy," oncologist Neil Iyengar from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told Insider. "When the fat tissue becomes dysfunctional in the setting of obesity, in the setting of hyper-adiposity (that's high levels of fat in a normal weight person) then that fat pad becomes ripe for the development of cancer."

Iyengar cautioned that even women who maintain a healthy weight can be at a greater risk for developing breast cancer, compared to their peers, if they have a high percentage of body fat, suggesting all poor diets can contribute to cancer risk, no matter how big or small a person may be.

Early onset colorectal cancer is up significantly among people in their 30s and younger across many countries across the globe, including the US, UK, Australia, France, Ireland, Germany and at least eight other European countries.

Cases of colon cancer went up an average of up to 7.3% every year for people in their 30s in the UK from 2005 to 2014.

Compared to older adults, it's still a relatively low number of additional cases (267 more recorded in the UK in 2014 compared to 2005), but the rise is notable and alarming.

Actor Chadwick Boseman's death from colon cancer at age 43 may help raise awareness about the illness in young people.

"Knowing symptoms are important, screenings are important, but the most important thing is to realize that it can really happen at any age," Shannon Costello, a mom who was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 29, previously told Insider. "People shouldn't be dismissed just because of how 'young' they are."

"It's probably, to the best of my knowledge, the most potent naturally occurring anti-inflammatory," Ajay Goel, a biophysicist who researches cancer, previously told Business Insider.

Over time, chronic inflammation can prompt the DNA damage that leads to cancer. Sugar, red and processed meat, refined carbs, as well as fried and processed foods are all inflammatory.

Goel said that "the kind of crap we eat every day" can play a huge role in colon cancer development. Cancer research UK also estimates that roughly 1 in 5 cases of colon cancer stems from processed and red meat consumption.

A study published in the Lancet in February 2019 pointed to the alarming rise in uterine cancer from 1995 to 2014, and suggested that "excess bodyweight could account for up to 60% of all endometrial cancers" in people over 30 years old.

Kidney cancer is another obesity-related cancer.

Pancreatic cancer cases increased, on average, 4.3% for 25 to 29 year olds from 1995 to 2014.

Type-2 diabetes puts people at higher risk of developing this kind of cancer, and not only in the US.

"There is something going on here," Dr Iyengar said. "It's been hypothesized that in East Asia, as the Western diet becomes more prevalent, that might be contributing to the shifting pattern of presentation of various cancers there, obesity-related cancers."

Source: The Lancet

"60 and above is still the most common age group to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but the incidence is slowly declining," Iyengar said. "The alarming thing is when you start to look at women in the age group of 30 to 34 and 20 to 29, while the rates of breast cancer are the lowest in this age group, the incidence is on the rise."

Presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research's 2020 meeting called breast cancer and colorectal cancer "the most rapidly increasing cancers in younger populations," with breast cancer being the most common cause of cancer in women between 18 and 49.

Some researchers theorized that the rising age of childbirth may play a role, due to how the mammary gland during the postpartum period may affect tumor formation and metastasis.

There's a racial disparity in breast cancer, too.

While rates still remain relatively stable for young white and black women in the US, a nationwide study that examined more than 14 million cancer cases from 1995 to 2014 suggested that breast cancer diagnoses may be going up in young Asian and Asian-American women at startling rates, something that other researchers have noticed is true across generations of Asian-American women. Scientists still aren't sure why this is happening.

"The future burden of these cancers could worsen as younger cohorts age," he said.