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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Several cancers have become more common among people under 50 in England, the United States and the Netherlands, according to a World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) analysis reported by The Guardian. The pattern differs by country and cancer type: it does not mean that every cancer is rising in younger people, or that cancer is more common in younger than older adults.
What the international comparison found
The WCRF analysis compared cancer incidence in England, the US and the Netherlands, using “early onset” to mean diagnosis before age 50. The Guardian reported significant increases in seven cancer types in England, five in the US and four in the Netherlands. The account does not provide the analysis methods or the threshold used to determine statistical significance, so the findings should be read as a reported country-by-country pattern rather than a complete ranking of cancer trends.
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Some of the clearest figures are absolute incidence rates: the number of new diagnoses per 100,000 people in a population during a given period. They show that increases can be substantial in relative terms while the underlying rates remain much lower than those for cancers in older age groups.
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| Country and cancer | Reported change among people under 50 |
|---|---|
| England: prostate cancer in men | 1 per 100,000 in 2001; 3.6 per 100,000 in 2023, according to the WCRF analysis reported by The Guardian. |
| England: bowel cancer | 3.9 per 100,000 in 2001; 8.4 per 100,000 in 2023, according to the WCRF analysis reported by The Guardian. |
| England: uterine cancer | The rate approximately doubled over the period described, reaching 3.9 per 100,000 in 2023, according to the WCRF analysis reported by The Guardian. |
| England: kidney cancer | The rate approximately doubled over the period described, reaching 3 per 100,000 in 2023, according to the WCRF analysis reported by The Guardian. |
| England: breast cancer | 42 per 100,000 at the earlier point reported, rising to 47.5 per 100,000 in 2023. The account does not specify the earlier year. |
| United States: kidney cancer | 2.5 per 100,000 in 2000; 5.3 per 100,000 in 2023, according to the WCRF analysis reported by The Guardian. |
| United States: bowel, uterine and pancreatic cancers | Each increased by more than 50% over the period described; the account does not give rates. |
| United States: breast cancer | Increased by about 20% over the period described; the account does not give rates. |
| Netherlands: bowel, kidney, liver and cervical cancers | WCRF reported significant increases; the account does not give rates. |
The same comparison found that lung cancer incidence among under-50s declined in all three countries, a pattern the report links to falling smoking rates. That contrast matters: the direction of change depends on the cancer, country and age group being examined.
Do other international studies show the same pattern?
Other datasets support the view that some cancers have increased among younger adults in multiple countries, but they do not show one uniform trend. Their age ranges, time periods and measures differ, so their percentages should not be treated as directly interchangeable.
- 42-country analysis: A 2025 study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention examined data from 2003–2017. It found that rates among young adults increased in a majority of the 42 countries for six of 13 cancer types: thyroid, breast, colorectal, kidney, endometrial cancer and leukaemia. In most cases, increases also occurred among older adults; the study does not establish that younger people had faster increases for every cancer.
- Colorectal cancer: The International Agency for Research on Cancer reported in 2025 that early-onset colorectal cancer incidence was increasing by about 4–5% per year in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, with higher increases among the very youngest adults. This is a cancer-specific finding, not a rate for all cancers.
- Women in Europe: An OECD analysis published in 2026 found that age-standardised incidence among women aged 15–49 rose by 16% on average across 24 EU countries, Iceland and Norway between 2000 and 2022, from 144 to 167 per 100,000 women. Age-standardisation adjusts rates to account for differences in population age structure.
- US cancer trends overall: A 2025 analysis summarized by the US National Institutes of Health found that incidence of 19 cancer types declined among people under 50. Across the younger and older age groups it examined, the total rate of all cancers and cancer death rates did not rise. This illustrates why a rise in selected cancer types does not necessarily mean that overall cancer incidence or mortality is rising.
Why might rates be increasing?
The causes are not fully understood, and the observed trends do not by themselves prove why incidence changed. WCRF has pointed to possible contributions from overweight and obesity, diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, smoking and environmental exposures such as pollutants and chemicals. These are candidate contributors, not established explanations for each cancer or country.
WCRF research translation manager Vanessa Gordon-Dseagu has said that risk factors such as overweight and obesity, diet, alcohol consumption and smoking are likely to play a role, while noting that the reasons are not completely understood. A population-level association between a risk factor and a cancer trend cannot establish that the factor caused a particular person’s cancer.
Could earlier diagnosis explain the rise?
Greater awareness of symptoms and risk factors can lead more people to seek medical care and may affect when cancers are diagnosed. Gordon-Dseagu has also noted that increased awareness may contribute to more people seeking healthcare when they notice symptoms. Earlier diagnosis is therefore part of the picture, but the report says it does not explain the entire rise.
A King’s College London trial funded by Cancer Research UK, involving 250,000 people, is intended to investigate rising bowel cancer cases among younger adults. It is a study in progress, not evidence that a cause has already been identified.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the figures mean for younger adults
Incidence is not the same as mortality: incidence counts new diagnoses, while mortality counts deaths. Nor does a percentage increase tell you how likely an individual is to develop cancer. A rate that doubles from a low starting point can remain low in absolute terms. The England prostate cancer figures, for example, rose from 1 to 3.6 diagnoses per 100,000 men under 50 between 2001 and 2023, while cancer overall remains much more common among older adults; the median age at diagnosis is above 60, according to the WCRF account reported by The Guardian.
These studies describe changes across populations, not a forecast for any one person. The most accurate takeaway is specific: selected cancer types have increased among younger adults in several countries, while other cancers have not followed that pattern, and the reasons remain under investigation.
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