Cancer surging among under-50s worldwide, study says | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 16, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025
Cancer surging among under-50s worldwide, study says

Health

BSS
06 September, 2023, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 06 September, 2023, 06:10 pm

Related News

  • Transforming Bangladesh’s healthcare: Digital strategies for the future
  • Govt extends VAT exemptions to support industries, mitigate public health concerns
  • Walking 7,000 steps daily or doing simple household chores can cut cancer risk: Study
  • Doctors in limbo, patients in peril as dysfunction grips public hospitals
  • 2 new hospitals planned for Hathazari, Karnaphuli: Health adviser

Cancer surging among under-50s worldwide, study says

BSS
06 September, 2023, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 06 September, 2023, 06:10 pm
Representational image. Photo: Pixabay
Representational image. Photo: Pixabay

The number of people under 50 diagnosed with cancer has surged worldwide in the last three decades but it is not fully clear why, a study said on Wednesday.

Cases of cancer among people aged 14 to 49 rose by nearly 80 percent, from 1.82 million to 3.26 million, between 1990 to 2019, according to the study published in the journal BMJ Oncology.

While experts cautioned that some of that increase was explained by population growth, previous research has also indicated that cancer is becoming more commonly diagnosed among under-50s.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The international team of researchers behind the new study pointed to poor diet, smoking and alcohol as major risk factors underlying cancer in the age group.

But "the increasing trend of early-onset cancer burden is still unclear," they added.

A little over one million people under 50 died of cancer in 2019, up 28% from 1990, the study said.

The deadliest cancers were breast, windpipe, lung, bowel and stomach cancers, according to the study.

Breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed over the three decades.

But the cancers that rose the fastest were of the nasopharynx, where the back of the nose meets the top of the throat, and prostate.

Liver cancer meanwhile fell by 2.9 percent a year.

- Causes remain 'elusive' -

The researchers used data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study, analysing the rates of 29 different cancers in 204 countries.

The more developed the country, the more likely it was to have a higher rate of under-50s diagnosed with cancer, the study said.

This could suggest that wealthier countries with better healthcare systems catch cancer earlier, but only a few nations screen for certain cancers in people under 50, the study added.

As well as poor diet, smoking and drinking, genetic factors, physical inactivity and obesity could also contribute to the trend, the study said.

Modelling predicted that the number of global cancer cases in under 50s will rise a further 31 percent by 2030, mostly among people aged 40-49.

The researchers acknowledged that cancer data from different countries varied greatly, with developing nations potentially under-reporting cases and deaths.

Experts not involved in the study said the slower increase in deaths compared to cases was likely due to improvements in early detection and treatment.

Dorothy Bennett, a researcher at the University of London, pointed out that the world's population grew by roughly 46 percent between 1990 and 2019, accounting for some of the increasing cases.

Two doctors at Queen's University Belfast, Ashleigh Hamilton and Helen Coleman, said it was "crucial" to work out what was behind the increasing cases.

"Full understanding of the reasons driving the observed trends remains elusive, although lifestyle factors are likely contributing, and novel areas of research such as antibiotic usage, the gut microbiome, outdoor air pollution and early life exposures are being explored," they said in an editorial linked to the study.

 

Bangladesh / Top News

cancer / Healthcare

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infograph: TBS
    Ship congestion at Ctg port lingers as berthing time rises
  • Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
    Iranian missiles hit Israel's Tel Aviv, Haifa
  • BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
    BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 

MOST VIEWED

  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Merger of 5 Islamic banks at final stage: BB governor
  • UCB launches Bangladesh's first microservices-based open API banking platform
    UCB launches Bangladesh's first microservices-based open API banking platform
  • Photo: Collected
    Pakistan rejects reports of missile supply to Iran
  • Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
    Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
  • Crore-taka bank accounts edge down by 719 in March quarter
    Crore-taka bank accounts edge down by 719 in March quarter
  • Nepal begins 38MW hydropower export to Bangladesh
    Nepal begins 38MW hydropower export to Bangladesh

Related News

  • Transforming Bangladesh’s healthcare: Digital strategies for the future
  • Govt extends VAT exemptions to support industries, mitigate public health concerns
  • Walking 7,000 steps daily or doing simple household chores can cut cancer risk: Study
  • Doctors in limbo, patients in peril as dysfunction grips public hospitals
  • 2 new hospitals planned for Hathazari, Karnaphuli: Health adviser

Features

Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

15h | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

2d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

4d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

10h | TBS World
Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

11h | Others
Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

11h | TBS World
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

11h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net