New study shows shifting patterns in rectal cancer over different generations
Haley Meberg
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ)– Americans born in 1990 have four times the risk of developing rectal cancer compared to those born in 1950, according to a new study that reveals how dramatically cancer patterns have shifted across generations.
The alarming trend also extends to gastrointestinal cancers, which have surged by 15 percent in just one decade among people under 50.
The findings were published in the “British Journal of Surgery.” Researchers say most of the cancers were not caused by genetic defects, instead they’re linked to obesity and diets dominated by processed foods.
Dr. Elber Camacho, Medical Director at Desert Regional Comprehensive Cancer Center says, “We hardly ever see cancer in the colon in 20-year-olds, and we’re already seeing it at that age. So we feel that by eating this kind of product, poses a great deal of inflammation in the gi tract, and this can lead to cancer development.”
The findings also show the rise in cancer among young adults hit minority groups hardest.
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