A surge in cancer is affecting an increasing number of young people, according to a North Carolina doctor, with an overwhelming number of patients under the age of 45. The surge appears to be due to the rise in diets high in ultra-processed foods.
According to Dr Nicholas DeVito, an oncologist at Duke University in North Carolina, and several colleagues, there has been a distinct demographic switch in cancer patients in recent years.
Around three-quarters of food consumed in the United States is considered ultra-processed. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are linked to a vast array of serious and life-threatening ailments, according to numerous studies that have been conducted in recent years.
Moreover, these foods often contain harmful additives and other ingredients that can cause illness and long-term disease, including multiple cancers.
DeVito’s findings prompted him to call on industry officials and political parties on both sides of the aisle to do more to protect Americans from harmful products.
“The desire to protect Americans from substances that cause cancer and other diseases should transcend party affiliation and political motivation to overcome industrial lobbying efforts,” DeVito wrote in an article called “Ultra-processed foods: the tobacco of the 21st century?” on the medical website STAT News.
In the article, he says that such a move was “possible with tobacco, and it is possible with food.”
DeVito, however, added that this would require significant lifestyle changes, which prioritize health over convenience and industry profits.
According to earlier studies on the topic, UPFs have long been associated with damage to the gut microbiome. This microbiome affects the amount of healthy bacteria we carry in our bodies, thus causing damage to intestinal walls and chronic inflammation.
This, in turn, is believed to significantly heighten the risk of cancer.
According to a 2023 study in the in the journal Clinical Nutrition, there is a “consistent significant association between intake of UPFs and the risk of overall and several cancers.” These included colon, breast and pancreatic cancers.
A separate study on the BMJ backed yo the Clinical Nutrition findings and added that a diet high in UPFs was associated with more than 30 health conditions. It also showed an increased risk in obesity, which contributes not only to cancer but also other diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.
A September 2023 BMJ study found that there had been a near-80-percent increase in cancer among young people between 1990 and 2019, with a mortality increase of close to 30 percent.
In addition to being the country with the sixth highest rate of early-onset cancers, the United States reported cancers in 87 cases per 100,000 people younger than 50 years old, with projected figures of an over 30 percent rise in early-onset cancers by 2030.
The highest increase has been observed in throat and prostate cancers. In contrast, the mortality rate in early-onset cancers was highest in cancers including breast, tracheal (windpipe), lung, stomach and colon.
A study by the American Cancer Society, however, has shown that almost half of these cancers can be prevented by making lifestyle changes, namely the avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and UPFs.
“Physicians and other health care providers should advise their patients to minimize consumption of ultra-processed foods, as they do now for fried foods, red meat, and sugary drinks,” DeVito wrote.
He added that grocery stores, restaurants, and other food vendors can take necessary steps to separate UPFs from healthy options, such as proper labeling and placing healthy options near registers to increase demand.
“This is not something grocery and other stores can do on their own: Consumers’ purchasing choices will affect decisions like this,” he added.
Much of this is also down to food regulations in the United States, which are more lax than in Europe, for example. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can now regulate tobacco products, but there is currently minimal legislation relating to UPFs.
“Food can play a major role here, making one’s knowledge of ingredients, the American food system, and how what they eat affects their body critical for decreasing cancer incidence,” DeVito wrote.
“Local and state governments have the responsibility to work to eradicate food deserts, offering affordable, healthier choices than fast and ultra-processed foods in every ZIP code,” he said.