4 Types of Cancer, Including NHL, on the Rise in Young Adults

[Guest guest]

Higher incidence of cancer seen in young adults:

Report

TORONTO - A new report by the Canadian Cancer Society

has found a disturbing increase in the number of

people diagnosed with four types of cancers.

From 1987 to 1996, overall incidence rates – the

number of people per 100,000 diagnosed with cancer per

year – increased by less than one per cent for both

men and women.

But researchers noted a spike in the incidence of lung

cancer in women, testicular cancer in men and

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and thyroid cancer in both men

and women.

Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a type of cancer that attacks

the body's lymph system. It's relatively rare, but it

increased 3.5 per cent among women and 4.0 per cent

among men per year.

Dr. Barb Whylie

Dr. Barb Whylie, director of cancer control policy for

the Canadian Cancer Society, said no one knows why it

is on the rise.

" Some studies have linked non-Hodgkins lymphoma with

exposure to some pesticides in the occupational

setting but there really needs to be more research, "

said Whylie.

For Canadian women, death rates in all cancers have

gone down by 20 per cent in the past three decades,

except for lung cancer.

Rising rates among young people

For the first time, the society also examined cancer

rates among 20 to 44-year-old Canadians.

They found cancer is twice as likely to strike a young

woman than a young man, whereas in all other age

groups, cancer rates are slightly higher among men.

Increases in cancer incidence

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma increased 3.5 per cent among

women and 4.0 per cent among per year;

thyroid cancer increased 6.6 per cent among women and

4.2 per cent among men per year;

lung cancer increased 1.9 per cent per year among

women;

testicular cancer increased 1.7 per cent per year.

" The arithmetic explanation for why there are so many

more cancers in this age group in women is that the

reproductive and female cancers – breast cancer,

cervix, ovary – are just so much more common in women

than reproductive cancers in men in this age group, "

said Loraine Marrett, senior epidemiologist in the

division of preventive oncology at Cancer Care

Ontario.

Marrett led the working group on cancer in young

adults. She says the group hopes to gain some clues

into what may have changed to cause the increases.

Cancer generally strikes later in life, and no one

knows why it forms in young people. But medical

oncologist Dr. Klasa said some cancers seem to

behave more aggressively in young people.

Dr. Klasa

" It may well be that the type of lymphoma we see in

young people is somewhat different than the kind we

see in someone who is older than let's say 65 or 70, "

said Klasa.

The report did contain some good news, such as a drop

in death rates from breast cancer, which the society

attributed to screening and better treatment.

Incidence and death rates from stomach and colorectal

cancers also fell, which the society says may be

linked to changes in diet and infection rates.

Overall death rates due to cancer dropped 48 per cent

in men and 37 per cent in women since 1998.

The society estimates that in Canada, 38 per cent of

women and 41 per cent of men will develop cancer at

some point. Close to 137,000 Canadians will be

diagnosed with cancer this year, and an estimated

66,000 will die of it.

Written by CBC News Online staff

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