Overview

• Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined eight cancers that have risen more than 1% per year in adults under 50 over roughly three decades.
• Mortality was stable or declined for six of the cancers studied, with only colorectal and endometrial cancers showing increases in deaths as overall mortality across the eight remained stable.
• Early-onset colorectal cancer incidence has climbed about 2% annually, with mortality up roughly 0.5% per year since 2004, a pattern the authors note may be inflated by detection of neuroendocrine tumors and the recent reclassification of appendiceal tumors as malignant.
• Endometrial cancer incidence and mortality have each risen by about 2% per year, which the authors suggest plausibly reflects higher obesity rates alongside fewer hysterectomies.
• The authors and journal editors caution that labeling the rise as an epidemic risks unnecessary screening and treatment, urging targeted attention to colorectal and endometrial cancers rather than broad expansions of testing.