Despite fears of a surge of cancers in young people, at least one form of the disease appears to be on the decline among the under-50s.
Rates of deadly skin cancer are rapidly falling in young people, according to a new major study involving 90,000 people.
It bucks a concerning trend of increasing rates of some types of the disease, specificially breast, lung and bowel. Over the last two decades the number of under 50 year-old Brits diagnosed with bowel cancer has risen by 24 per cent.
In the new study, experts from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden analysed national data tracking cases of the most serious type of skin cancer melanoma, which is mainly caused by overexposure to UV radiation from the sun, over time.
Tracking data in both men and women from 1990 to 2022, they found that from 2015, cancer rates declined significantly in the under 50s — particularly in women.
A new Swedish study shows rates of skin cancer are on the decline among young people, a pattern that is also being replicated in the UK
Strictly professional Amy Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and almost died from sepsis
The biggest change was among 20-to-29-year-olds and 30-to-39-year-olds, who saw declines in incidents rates of the disease of up to five per cent.
By the end of the study rates of melanoma had declined to 18 cases per 100,000 women and 10 cases per 100,000 men, declines of 5.2 per cent and three per cent respectively.
For 20-to-29-year-old women, data showed a decrease of 5.2 per cent to seven cases per 100,000 while men remained stable at threes cases per 100,000.
Melanoma rates in the 40-to-49-year-olds didn’t decrease dramatically but were noted to level off from 2015 onwards.
For young people below the age of 20, a demographic which included children, rates didn’t change but the authors noted cases were rare throughout at less than one case per 100,000 population.
In contrast rates of the disease in general increased among the over 50s during the same period.
Dr Hildur Helgadottir an expert in cancer at Karolinska, said: ‘We can see a trend break in young adults around 2015 where the incidence curves are falling.’
‘This is the first time we see this in Sweden, and we are the first European country to report a decline.’
While the data can’t provide a direct reason why rates Dr Helgadottir and colleagues suggested four factors could be at play.
The first was the potential success of the country’s sun safe campaign urging people to take precautions like wearing sunscreen on sunny days.
Another was declining use of sunbeds in Sweden, as well as young people staying in indoors more due to rising use of mobiles and computers.
The final factor Dr Helgadottir suggested was that immigration meant Sweden was seeing an influx of younger people with darker skin that stood up better against the sun.
She added that the results also showed a need to continue to emphasise the importance of sun protection to hopefully reduce incidence rate among older demographics.
Data from the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) also shows a small decline in melanoma rates among younger Brits in recent years.
The most recent data, from 2017-2019 shows there about 15 cases per 100,000 people among Brits aged 25-to-49.
This is a decline from a peak 16 cases per 100,000 people in this age range in 2014-2016.
A similar decrease was also recorded in the under 24s with rates declining from 1.4 cases per 100,000 in 2004-2006 to just under one case per 100,000 in the most recent data round.
Cancer risk broadly increases in age but young people, defined as those under the age of 50, aren’t immune.
While still overall rarer than in older groups experts have been concerned by an unexplained rise in cases of cancers, like that of the colon, among young adults.
CRUK data shows the incidence rate of the disease among younger Brits (aged between 25-49) is now just over 162 cases per 100,000 people each year.
This is 22 per cent higher than the figure in the 90s.
And the increase cannot be dismissed as just being due to better cancer detection methods, experts argue.
For comparison, rates among the over 75s, who account for about half of all cancer cases in the UK, only increased by 9 per cent in the same period.
Cases among the under 50s are still, statistically speaking, rare, only accounting for one in 10 cases of the disease in Britain.
However, the rate of increase, and the fact that so far scientists have been unable to pin the cause, is worrying experts.
Actor Chadwick Boseman is one famous face killed by early onset cancer, defined medically as a case of the disease striking someone under the age of 50, in the Black Panther star’s case it was colon cancer
Signs of skin cancer range from innocuous to obvious, but experts warn that treating cases early is key to making sure they do not spread or further develop
Oncologist Dr Shivan Sivakumar, from the University of Birmingham, previously described the situation as an ‘epidemic’.
He said: ‘There is an epidemic currently of young people (under 50) getting cancer.
‘It is unknown the cause of this, but we are seeing more patients getting abdominal cancers.’
A study published in the British Medical Journal last year found cases of early onset of cancer increased overall globally by 79 per cent between 1990 and 2019.
The experts also predicted cases of cancer in the young are set to rise further, by an additional 31 per cent by 2030.
A number of famous faces have been hit by early onset cancer.
Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden, 34, is one being diagnosed with breast cancer twice last year.
Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman is another being tragically killed by colon cancer at 43.
Kate Middleton’s shock cancer diagnosis earlier this year has also shone a light on the startling trend.
About 17,500 cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the UK each year, with the most common symptom being the appearance of a new or change in an existing mole.
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK and causes around 2,000 deaths per year.
Despite this it is one of the Britain’s most survivable cancers with nearly 9 out of 10 patients alive a decade after their diagnosis.
