June 21, 2024 – Generation Xers usually tend to be diagnosed with Cancer than the generations before them, in line with a brand new study published in JAMA Open Network.
Researchers on the National Cancer Institute examined the health records of three.8 million people diagnosed with malignant cancer within the United States between 1992 and 2018. Cancer rates were determined for members of Generation X (people born between 1965 and 1980) and baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).
Computer models have shown that starting in 2025, when Generation Xers turn 60, they usually tend to develop invasive cancer than previous generations, including baby boomers. In fact, the researchers write, “Generation X is experiencing a larger per capita increase in the most common cancers overall than any other generation between 1908 and 1964.”
“For the first time since the Greatest Generation, we have a generation with a higher cancer rate than their parents. It's my generation. Generation X,” said F. Perry Wilson, MD, director of the Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Wilson can be a columnist for Medscape, WebMD's sister site for healthcare professionals.
The researchers said they were surprised by the outcomes due to initiatives to cut back cancer, similar to anti-smoking campaigns and increased screening for colon, rectal and breast cancer.
Obesity, lack of exercise and more frequent early detection may very well be causing higher cancer rates amongst Generation X, the study says.
Recently, the rise in colon cancer amongst Generation X and younger people has been reported. However, the study also predicted that there could be a rise in thyroid cancer, kidney cancer and leukemia amongst Generation X men and girls. In Generation X women, a rise in uterine, pancreatic and ovarian cancer, in addition to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was predicted. In men, a rise in prostate cancer was predicted.
“To understand this article, it is important to understand that age is an important cancer risk factor, but exposures vary by generation,” Wilson said. “A 50-year-old today is exposed to a fundamentally different set of potential carcinogens than someone who was 50 in 1980.”