5 days ago
Rare appendix cancers are increasing among millennials and Gen X
17 June 2025 00:53
(THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE)A new study shows that appendix cancer is becoming more common among younger generations, mirroring a pattern that has been occurring with other cancers since the incidence rates among members of Generation X were two to three times higher than among people born in the 1940s, according to the study, which was published last week in the Annals of Internal among older millennials, born in the 1980s, were more than four times with those increases, appendix cancer still remains extremely rare. Doctors diagnose an estimated 3,000 new cases in the United States each year, compared with more than 150,000 cases of colon and rectal findings come at a time of growing concern about the earlier onset of certain cancers, including colorectal, breast and kidney cancers. The new research describes what's known as a "birth cohort' effect, or a disease becoming more common among successive an effect lends credence to the idea that people born after a certain time have had similar exposures to something that is increasing their cancer risk more so than among people born decades before, said Dr. Andrea Cercek, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who was not involved in the the fact that researchers have seen similar generational effects in colorectal and gastric cancers suggests there may be some shared risk factors between those cancers and appendix cancer, said Dr. Andrew T. Chan, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who researches the epidemiology of colon cancer and also was not involved in the is one such possibility, he said. Our consumption of ultraprocessed foods has increased over time, and these foods - particularly processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages - have been associated with increased risk for colon of metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes - both of which have been associated with colon and stomach cancers - have been increasing over time. Young people, in particular, may be increasingly exposed to the negative effects of obesity and diabetes during a time of life when they are possibly more susceptible to developing cancer, Chan and changes to the gut microbiome are also thought to increase the risk of some gastrointestinal still don't know whether any of these environmental factors specifically influence appendix cancer, said Andreana Holowatyj, an assistant professor of hematology and oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and lead author of the new study. Because the cancer is so rare, there is very little research on its and other experts said that a multitude of factors are likely at play, including genetics. Better diagnosis may also be responsible for some of the documented increase, Holowatyj recently, some appendix cancers - which are often diagnosed incidentally when someone with appendicitis has their appendix removed - were misclassified as colon researchers found a particularly strong generational effect for a specific type of cancer that has always been classified as appendix cancer. A research effort called the Appendiceal Cancer Consortium is working to pool data and specimens from across studies to better understand the risk factors and biological markers specific to appendix there is no good way to screen for the cancer right now, scientists hope that more knowledge about the disease will lead to greater awareness of the symptoms and, perhaps, earlier other research, Holowatyj found that 77% of patients diagnosed with appendix cancer presented with at least one sign or symptom of an abdominal condition, like pain or bloating. Often, those symptoms lasted for months, compared with the more acute symptoms that usually cause people with appendicitis to seek care.
"There's an opportunity and a window for intervention there,' Holowatyj said.
