Young women see dramatic spike in cancer rates compared to young men. Why? It’s complicated
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Young women are now nearly twice as likely to get cancer as young men in the U.S. – but there is no one reason why.
New findings show that incidence rates in women under the age of 50 are now 82 percent higher than their male counterparts to be diangosed with cancer, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.
The organization noted that the pattern includes increaes lung cancer, which is now higher in women than in men among those younger than 65 years old.
The reason for the increase is multi-faceted. The rate of cancer in young men had declined at the start of the century and has leveled out. Among women, though, it’s climbing. Breast and thyroid cancer are two of the leading types of cancer leading the increase in women.
“Breast and thyroid cancer account for almost half of all cancer diagnoses in women younger than 50,” said Rebecca Siegel, lead author of the report and senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, according to CNN.
There have also been changes in screening practices that could be contributing to the results.
“We see for the first time, if you’re a woman under the age of 65, you’re now more likely to develop cancer than men in that same age group,” Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, told CNN.
“The other thing is, we’re seeing a change in – at the time of cancer diagnosis – the age of which patients develop cancer.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis and cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. Roughly 2 million people were diagnosed with cancer last year. That number is expected to be similar this year.
