New Delhi: Obesity-related cancer cases, which were previously seen increasing in young people, are now expected to increase globally in both young and old people.
According to a global analysis, the main reasons for the increase in cancer cases due to obesity in young and old people are hormonal changes caused by excess body fat, chronic inflammation, and other metabolic problems.
Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London have warned that new studies focusing solely on young people should be carefully considered for the increase in cancer cases.
The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed annual cancer incidence from 2003 to 2017. It found that five obesity-related cancers: thyroid, breast, kidney, endometrial, and blood (leukemia) are increasing in young people aged 20 to 49 and adults over 50.
Analysis of data from 42 countries
The team concluded that all five cancers are associated with obesity. Data from 42 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Australia were analyzed, drawn from the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s ‘Globocan’ database. More than three-quarters of these countries found an increase in the incidence of thyroid, breast, colorectal, kidney, endometrial cancer, and leukemia among young people.
However, for colorectal cancer, the increase in incidence among young people was higher than among older people in approximately 70 percent of countries. The researchers attributed this trend to exposure to new cancer factors or effective screening among older people. For liver, oral, esophageal, and stomach cancers, incidence rates among young people decreased in more than half of the countries studied.
Cancers on the rise among both young and old people
The authors wrote that the number of cancer patients with several types of cancer has increased in many countries. However, with the exception of colorectal cancer, these increases occurred in both young and old individuals. In most countries, the cancer types that increased in both young and old individuals were all associated with obesity, with endometrial and kidney cancers being most strongly associated with obesity.
The team stated that the results indicate that changes in exposures leading to higher cancer rates may be common to all age groups and not limited to young people. Cancer types previously seen as increasing in young people are now increasing in both young and old individuals. The implications of focusing new research studies on these cancer types solely on young people should be carefully considered.