Bowel cancer in young people is increasing worldwide

Bowel cancer rates in younger adults have risen in countries around the world, although this trend appears to be more common in high-income countries.

Previous studies have shown that rates of bowel or colorectal cancer have increased Over the past few decades in this age group across many Western countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. This has led to speculation about whether Western lifestyles, such as diets high in meat or processed foods, are the cause.

To better understand the scale of the problem, Hyuna Sung She and her colleagues at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, examined bowel cancer rates in 50 countries and territories around the world. They generally collected data on its occurrence from 1975 until 2017 using the WHO database, although some countries did not begin reporting this information until several years after 1975.

The team found that bowel cancer rates in people between the ages of 25 and 49 years have increased in 27 countries and regions. These countries include non-Western countries, such as Japan, and less wealthy countries, such as Turkey, raising the possibility that Western lifestyles alone may not be behind this trend.

This increase is unlikely to be related to improvements in screening, as most countries do not routinely test people for bowel cancer until age 50, the researchers wrote in their paper.

However, all 27 countries and territories score high or very high on the UN Human Development Index, which is based on life expectancy, education level and income per person.

In addition, all but six of them are considered high-income, according to the World Bank. Unlike most high-income countries surveyed, these six places saw bowel cancer cases among older people increase at a pace equal to or greater than that among younger adults.

“I think there is still evidence in trends that economic development and lifestyle Westernization are playing a role,” he says. Andrew Chan at Harvard University, noting that many countries are adopting aspects of this lifestyle as their economies grow. For example, Eating meat in Japan It increased more than seven-fold between 1961 and 2021.

“However, I think the fact that there are likely other factors at play,” such as environmental pollutants, still needs to be considered, Chan says.

The researchers point out that their study has several limitations, most notably that countries in Africa, Asia, and small islands were underrepresented. For example, only one African country is included – Uganda. Some countries also did not have complete datasets. For example, the figures for India were only 4 percent of the population there.

However, these findings improve our understanding of how bowel cancer rates vary between many different countries, which may help us devise new ways to prevent the condition, Chan says.

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