Overview

• Diagnoses in adults under 50 have roughly doubled since 1990—from about 30 to 60 per 100,000—but severe cases have not risen in parallel.
• Across eight fast-rising cancers, overall mortality held at 5.9 deaths per 100,000 from 1992 to 2022, supporting what authors call an “epidemic of diagnosis.”
• Colorectal and uterine cancers are notable exceptions, with rising deaths in younger adults prompting calls for cancer-specific responses.
• Expanded detection, including the U.S. move to lower colorectal screening to age 45, likely inflated recent case counts, especially in 2021–2022.
• Experts cite obesity, alcohol use, diet and microbiome changes as plausible contributors, and an American Cancer Society report found new diagnoses in women 82% higher than in men.