This cancer has quadrupled in the forties.
Cancer is often associated with aging. However, researchers observe a disturbing trend: certain cancers, such as colon, breast or stomach, affect the younger generations more and more. Another type of cancer, a long time under radars, is exploding in young people. According to researchers from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville), the number of diagnoses in this cancer quadrupled in those born between 1981 and 1989, in other words adults today aged 36 to 44. The causes of this increase are not yet clearly established, but several tracks are mentioned: ultra -formed food, pollution, imbalance in the intestinal microbiota …
To get there, these researchers have based on a large American register which collects cancer data in several regions of the United States. In total, they analyzed more than 4,800 men and women over 20 years old who received a diagnosis of this type of cancer between 1975 and 2019. They classified participants by age groups, then compared the cancer appearance rates according to the generations. Their results were published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Unknown, this disease is the appendix cancer, a small organ located in the lower right of the abdomen. It is often discovered by chance when removing the appendix (in the event of appendicitis, unexplained abdominal pain) or an imaging examination for another reason. Epidemiological data is limited but estimate the impact at 1 to 2 cases per 100,000 people per year, making it rare, but deadly cancer. The survival prognosis depends strongly on the detection stadium: half of the cases are discovered at an advanced stage and 5 -year survival varies from 10 % to 63 %. For researchers, these figures must alert: “One in 3 patients receives this diagnosis before 50 years. Combined in the rapid increase in cases in young generations, this shows how urgent it is that everyone knows the signs and symptoms to monitor“, Underlines Andreana Holowatyj, main author of the study in a press release.
Symptoms include persistent abdominal pain, especially in the lower right (such as appendicitis), bloating or a feeling of abdominal mass, unexplained weight loss, persistent fatigue or unusual digestive disorders (nausea, vomiting, change of transit) … They should push a doctor.
