A recent Washington Post article titled, “Cancer among young Americans on the rise, new studies show,” discusses a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looking at the changes in cancer incidence for adults under age 50, also known as early-onset cancer.
Early on the Post article, it says, “There is not a clear explanation why cancer is rising among younger people, but experts say there are several possible reasons behind the trend, including rising obesity rates and lifestyle factors such as drinking alcohol, smoking, sleeping poorly and being sedentary. Environmental factors, including exposure to pollutants and carcinogenic chemicals, also probably play a role.”
The problem with this statement is that the study reported in JAMA did not attempt to identify the cause for the increase in early-onset cancers and fails to name who the “experts” are. As a cancer survivor, advocate and someone who works at a cancer center (although not an MD or researcher), I think the Post’s indication of lifestyle factors as a potential cause of this increase is both misleading and patient-shaming.
I applaud the Washington Post for covering this issue, but implying that younger people are getting cancer because they are overweight, sedentary, smoke or drink is irresponsible. The reality is that we don’t yet know the reasons for early-onset cancer and they are being studied. To throw younger cancer patients under the bus without concrete evidence can only cause shame and negative feelings for these patients and distorts the results of the study. Why can’t the Post report what the actual conclusions of the study and tell their readers that there is a lot to still be learned about this issue.
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