A team of scientists has been appointed to investigate a mysterious rise in cancer cases among under-50s.
The international Prospect research team, which includes scientists from King’s College London, will assess whether factors such as diet and air pollution are responsible for a significant increase in disease among young people.
The group have received £20m of funding to carry out trials and analyse data from millions of adults over the next five years, according to The Times.
Analysis by Cancer Research UK shows that cancer rates in 25 to 49-year-olds increased by 24 per cent between 1995 and 2019.
The Standard looks at some of the reasons experts have put forward for the increase.
Diet
Scientists have suggested that changes to diet in the past three decades could play a major role in increasing cancer rates among young people.
Previous research has suggested that a poor diet can cause changes to the microbiome - the population of microorganisms that lives in the intestine.
Between the early 1990s and 2018, the number of adults aged 25 to 49 being diagnosed with bowel cancer increased by a fifth (22 per cent) in the UK.
A study by Ohio State University, published earlier this year, found that poor diets could be causing “accelerated ageing” in the colon.
Researchers found that a bacteria called fusobacterium – linked to a diet low in fibre - can increase the risk of gut inflammation that is an important risk factor for bowel cancer.
Unhealthy diets that are high in processed red meat and sugar have become more common in the past two decades and obesity rates have risen significantly in the UK, particularly in deprived areas.
Professor Sarah Berry, a lecturer in nutritional sciences and chief scientist for the Zoe nutrition app, will focus on the microbiome for the PROSPECT study.
She told The Times that the key question is whether “modifying people’s diet can modify their microbiome”, reducing the risk of harmful bacteria that cause cancer.
Air pollution
Air pollution is driving an increase in global cancer rates, according to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last February.
Scientists are particularly concerned about the effect of exposure to fine particle air pollution, known as PM2.5.
A study by the London-based Francis Crick Institute published in 2023 found that exposure to PM2.5 promotes the growth of cells in the lungs which carry cancer-causing mutations.
Professor Charles Swanton, a researcher at the Francis Crick Institute who led the study, said: “Cells with cancer-causing mutations accumulate naturally as we age, but they are normally inactive. We’ve demonstrated that air pollution wakes these cells up in the lungs, encouraging them to grow and potentially form tumours.
“The mechanism we’ve identified could ultimately help us to find better ways to prevent and treat lung cancer in never smokers. If we can stop cells from growing in response to air pollution, we can reduce the risk of lung cancer.”
Air pollution particles are inhaled into the body and can get into the bloodstream, causing damage to blood vessels and airways. Damage to organs when children are aged between 11 to 16 could lead to lifelong complications, clinicians have warned.
Sedentary lifestyles
A sedentary lifestyle with low levels of exercise can significantly contribute to cancer risk, as well as other conditions such as heart disease and obesity.
Children are less active then they used to be and spend more time sitting down, data shows.
Figures released by London Sport show that 620,000 children in London between the ages of 5 and 16 are not achieving the 60 minutes of daily exercise recommended by health experts.
Research by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) has found that sedentary behaviour is associated with higher risk for developing certain types of cancer, including colon, endometrial, and lung.
For every two hours that participants spent sitting down, the risk increased 8 percent for colon cancer and 10 percent for endometrial cancer.
