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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor in Chicago

Cancer rates among under-50s in UK have risen 24% since 1995, figures show

Patient laying on a CT scan platform
Early onset cancers are still uncommon. About 90% of all cancers affect people over the age of 50, but experts say the upward trend is still worrying. Photograph: baranozdemir/Getty Images

The number of people under 50 being diagnosed with cancer in the UK has risen 24% in two decades, a sharper increase than any other age group, according to figures experts say are likely linked to soaring obesity levels, cheap junk food and inactivity.

Early onset incidence rates grew from 132.9 per 100,000 people in 1995 to 164.6 in 2019, analysis of data shows. About 35,000 under-50s are now developing cancer every year, almost 100 young women and men a day, the research reveals.

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