Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
It is “a random process that can happen to any of us,” said Dr. Nicholas Devito, an oncologist at the Duke Cancer Institute.
In 2025, more than 2 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 618,120 people will die from the disease. In North Carolina, cancer is the second cause of death, after a heart disease.
Between 2010 and 2019, cases at the start of 14 different cancers – including colon, breast, uterine and testicular cancer – increased in at least one younger age group.
An increase in cancer patients under the age of 50
“I would say that in the last five to six years … I have been really struck by the young age, in particular, our patients with MAI malignant tumors compared to years before,” said Dr. Cary Anders, associate director of clinical research at Duke Cancer Institute.
“We note that over the past 30 years, the figures across the country have increased,” said Dr. Ashwin Somasundrarm, an oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal cancers of the UNC School of Medicine. “Many of us across the country have examined why it happens and what we can do and exactly what are the differences.”
One in five colorectal cancer diagnosis now occurs in a person under the age of 55.
More women under the age of 40 are diagnosed with endometrial or uterine cancer.
Devito says: “During the last two to three years, I really started to take note of it. I saw people with this type of cancer even in my twenties.”
Angela Alvarez Secord, a gynecological oncologist at Duke Health, says that the diagnosis of a neighbor’s cancer has changed the way she approaches her work.
“Seeing the patients whom I knew how to be afflicted by this disease which were younger and who had young children, it had a deep effect on me. And I have in fact changed my research trajectory. She inspired what we are doing today,” said Seord. “One of the things that crossed my mind is why.”
An environmental influence
Anders, whose clinical work specializes in breast cancers, said this in this way: “What is the molecular reason for this and what are environmental or genetic reasons?
Researchers examine the diet, environmental factors such as air and water and even habits to try to understand what has changed in the American population that could trigger our cells.
Somasundaram says: “We are looking for the simplest explanation. We wonder what has really changed in the last 30 to 40 years as a population in the United States, and what, depending on the science that we have, could explain what we see. ”
“You must believe that there is an environmental influence,” says Anders, “whether or not it is the air that we breathe, the food we eat, the activity in which we are engaged every day, the amount of alcohol consumed, smoking. There are so many different components that lead to it. ”
A clear trend has been the epidemic of obesity, partly linked to what we eat and how much we move.
Secord explained how larger bodies and a wave of hormones can trigger uterine cancer.
“Being a higher weight has an impact on your body in various ways. And one of the ways it can have an impact on your body is by this increase in hormone production. And the uterine lining is extremely sensitive to hormones like estrogens. And so when you have a lot of estrogen in your system, and which can occur from the moment when the fatty fabric created, he said. “Then he becomes a pre-cancer to finally become cancer.”
“Diabetes, obesity, the sedentary lifestyle all play in the convoluted aspect which is ultra-transformed food,” explains Devito.
Unabled foods
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, around 75% of the American diet is made up of ultra-transformed foods. Foods made, not made in kitchens, such as fries, frozen meals, sugary drinks, are filled with chemicals and very little real nutrition.
A Study carried out in Norway I found that an increase of 10% of ultra-transformed foods in your diet could increase your risk of overall cancer by 13%. Another study, carried out in ChinaFound that men who ate the most ultra-tail foods had an almost 30% more high chance of obtaining colon cancer.
“We went from an environment where you eat foods that have come out of your own garden in an environment where everything is bought at the grocery store,” said Secord.
She warns against waiting for research to offer a single cause for many cancers.
“It is not because there is an association that there is a direct link or cause,” she says. “However, I think that a more in -depth investigation is really justified, evaluating the environment and how it interacts with our diet and how we move and if there are negative effects on our body.”
Anders adds: “I cannot say that we have the answer with a 100% certainty today, but there is certainly current efforts to help us understand what could lead to this increased incidence, so we could change behavior to reduce impact in the future.”
Any link between food or the environment and the development of certain cancers is parallel to the link between tobacco consumption and lung cancer. Likewise, reducing the risk will require a concentrated effort that starts with a better understanding of what we put in our body.
“I would also emphasize that these cancers of the general population are rare, and so that it arrives at a younger age, is even more rare,” explains Somasundaram. He encourages people of each age to consult first with a primary care doctor on the necessary screening and screening guidelines.
“I think that being attentive to what you should do to detect, what are your risks, especially if you have family history, a first degree parent, you should absolutely think of selection earlier,” he said.
“If you have other general cancer family history, arouse why, what were the environmental exhibitions associated with these cancers?” Then, be aware of living a generally healthy global life, ”recommends Somasundaram.
He suggests “to avoid ultra-treble food, to avoid transformed meats, to have a high fiber and regular exercise, regular exposure in vitamin D.
“These are all things that seem to have more advantages and less risks in terms of general life,” explains Somasundaram.
Research, new therapies offer hope
There are revolutionary research in North Carolina to understand why young people hear a diagnosis of cancer, including the group called Yogi (young group of gastrointestinal cancer) at Duke Health. It is made up of laboratory investigators, public health practitioners, primary care, radiotherapy, surgical oncology and gastroenterology. They share data, laboratory results and research via a digital biobank to determine what means that patients under the age of 50 obtain this disease.
“We are able to follow all the patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer in the future and to be back in Duke,” said Devito.
This work allows Devito to reassure the younger patients than they are alone and to offer them new therapies that deal with both their cancer and facilitate their side effects.
Searches from Secord at the Endometrial Consortium Cancer, inspired by the career of cancer of his neighbor, gives hope to those who obtain a diagnosis similar to the future.
“At this point, we are 23 sites and we are growing and nearly 4,000 patients. And what it really helps us are better understanding why these cancers are developing and how we can target treatments for them, but giving us an evaluation in the real world how these drugs work, “she said.
These results led a treatment for endometrial cancer at dawn of what Seord calls “a whole new era of personalized individualized therapy … So the right medicine at the right patient at the right time, let’s hope, will cause more remedies.”
Devito hopes that his patient, Bianca Harvey, is able to ring the bell Later this summer.
Harvey received a diagnosis of stadium 4 colon cancer at the age of 34. After participating in two clinical trials, it is treated with immunotherapy, which uses its own immune response to attack your cancer.
Three years after his diagnosis and after two years of immunotherapy, Devito is encouraged by his prognosis. It has a colonoscopy scheduled for July, and if this scan does not show any cancer, Devito says that it could be removed from all treatments.
“For colon cancer previously unusable or before,” he says, “it is a remarkable thing to see.
“The tumor continued to shrink during several scans, her blood tests look great, she looked great, she continued to feel better all the time,” said Devito.
Not only does Harvey look at the remission, but it contributes to the Yogi research and helps others.
“I do not see how none of these tests will contribute to the norm of care,” said Devito. “She did not only do this for herself, but she did it for many other people too.”
Anders concludes: “There are truly innovative research … in particular the role of the environment and how our environment interfaced with our genes which can or not lead to cancer of young adults. I think it will really be the lock and the key. In the end, the objective is prevention. We certainly want the best treatments for the rods once they perform, but we will love them completely. ”
Diagnosis: Young. The new face of cancer in NC
“Diagnosis: Young. The new face of cancer in NC” is the latest investigation documentary for the Wral Doc unit, exploring the alarming trend of cancer striking younger adults in North Carolina and across the country. The documentary follows three Northern Carolinians in the twenties and the thirties who did not expect a diagnosis of cancer so early in life. Behind each personal story is the big question: why does it happen?
Diagnosis: Young is available on Wral’s streaming platforms and Wral’s YouTube channel. It will also be broadcast on Fox 50 on Sunday June 29 at 1 p.m. and on Wilm on Sunday, June 29 at 6 p.m.
