Study: Bowel cancer is on the rise among young people in England.

A new study warns that bowel cancer is increasingly diagnosed in young people. In England, the increase has been particularly steep.

The study published in The Lancet Oncology concluded that early-onset bowel carcinoma is becoming a “global phenomena”.

A research team led by the American Cancer Society, using data from the World Health Organization for the years up to 2017, found that the rate of colorectal cancer (or bowel cancer) in younger adults was increasing in 27 of the 50 countries studied. These include, for the first time ever, parts of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Eastern Europe, Asia, and Eastern Europe.

“Early-onset colon cancer is a global phenomenon,” said Dr Yin Cao of Washington University in St Louis. “But at the same, it’s still rare.”

In the decade up to 2017, England had the fourth-fastest (3.6% per annum) increase in early-onset bowel carcinoma.

This was faster and more significant than any other European country, and only behind New Zealand and Chile. This increase in devolved UK nations was not equaled.

Researchers cautioned that this variation could be due to differences in population, but noted that risk factors and diagnostic pathways were similar between UK countries. The overall number of diagnoses in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is much lower, so small fluctuations can make it difficult to establish a pattern over time.

Cancer Research UK’s statistics show that in the UK, only 1 in 20 cases of bowel cancer occur in people younger than 50. “Even though the number of cases is on the rise,” Dr Cao said, “I do not think people should worry.”

Katrina Brown is a senior cancer intelligence manger at Cancer Research UK. She said that more research was needed to determine whether or not there were genuine differences in the countries, and what could be done to resolve them.

The rate of colorectal carcinoma in 25-49-year-olds across the UK is the same at this time, added Dr Cao.

The UK ranks 16th to 19th in terms of the overall rate for early-onset bowel carcinoma. The highest rates are in Australia, Puerto Rico New Zealand, US and South Korea.

The new study is the first to show a rise of early-onset bowel carcinoma outside the high-income Western countries.

Researchers note in the article that in many newly-identified countries, the increase in early-onset cancer of the bowel coincides with or follows periods of economic growth. This suggests that they may be related to rapid changes in diet and lifestyle.