Cases of prostate cancer among men under 50 in England have more than trebled since 2001, a new analysis of cancer data by the World Cancer Research Fund has found.

New cases of early-onset prostate cancer have increased from one in every 100,000 in 2001 to nearly four in every 100,000 in 2023. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) analysis has also found there has been a rise in several other cancers affecting people under the age of 50.

Bowel cancer cases have more than doubled between 2001 and 2023, from 1,289 cases to 2,989 cases. Similar increases for kidney cancer (510 to 1,065 cases) and uterine cancer (335 to 698 cases) among women were also observed.

WCRF’s analysis adds to growing concern about the rise of early-onset cancers around the world, but particularly pronounced in England, the US and in other high-income countries.

Data from NHS England’s Cancer Registry was analysed as part of WCRF’s research. They found that early-onset cancers are also increasing in rarer forms of cancer, which could receive less funding and less of a research focus.

Current trajectory is concerning

The rise in early-onset cancer should be treated as a research wake-up call, the World Cancer Research Fund said. Understanding why these increases are happening will be key to providing improvements in prevention, screening and treatment.

The charity cautioned that cancer is still less common in younger people than older adults. But revealed the data found there were increasing rates of seven cancer types among people under 50 in England: prostate, colorectal, kidney, uterine, liver, pancreas and breast. 

The increase in prostate cancer in people under 50 is particularly striking, the WCRF said, and should be an area of public health and research concern. Increases in pancreatic cancer in people under the age of 50 were also “troubling given the low survival rate”, they added.

“These figures should make us pause and think because this current trajectory is concerning,” said Giota Mitrou, executive director of research and policy at the World Cancer Research Fund. “Behind every figure is a person facing cancer earlier than they, their family and often their doctor would expect. These findings show that the early-onset picture in England is far wider and more complex, involving several cancers rather than bowel cancer alone. While cancer is still much more common in older adults, these changing patterns among younger generations need to be treated as a serious research and cancer prevention priority.”

Identifying causes

The potential causes of rising early-onset cancers are likely to be complex and cannot be attributed to a single factor. WCRF, along with researchers around the world, is investigating a range of possible factors. These include: changing population trends in diet, physical activity, body weight, alcohol consumption, smoking, environmental exposure (such as the impact of air pollution, chemicals, plastics and water pollutants), and patterns of diagnosis.

“We need to understand what is driving these trends, including modifiable risk factors and exposures experienced earlier in life, changes in screening and diagnosis, tumour biology, and whether some groups are being affected more than others,” added Vanessa Gordon-Dseagu, WCRF’s international research translation manager. “This information will help policymakers determine where action would have the greatest impact, both for younger generations today and for those growing up in the future.”