A recent study, published in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, showed that people born after 1990 are more likely to develop cancer before age 50 than people of previous generations.
We know what we need to do to reduce our cancer risk, right? Use sunscreen, stop smoking, avoid processed foods, lose weight, get enough sleep…
However, some evidence has indicated that much of what causes cancer is linked to our early years and even factors before we are even born. One recent study from hospital Brigham and women Harvard University says this may be the case, especially in cancers that occur before age 50.
The most important findings of this study published in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Clinical Oncologyis that people born after 1990 are more likely to develop cancer before the age of 50 than people born, say, in 1970. This means that young people will be more likely to develop cancer than previous generations, which will have consequences for health systems Economy and families.
What we are exposed to early in life can affect our risk of developing cancer later in life, and this review study looked at how various factors affect early cancers. It is still not entirely clear which factors are most important in the early years of life, but the main candidate factors are diet, lifestyle, environment and the microbes that live in our gut, making up our gut microbiota.
By looking at large numbers of people, researchers can see that eating and lifestyle habits are forming early on. This was verified on obesityBecause obese children are more likely to be obese. Since obesity is a known risk factor for cancer, this means that these adults are more likely to develop cancer at an earlier age, possibly because they have been exposed to the risk factor for a longer time.
It is clear that some of these early cancers are being detected by today’s best screening and diagnostic procedures, contributing to the increase in new cancers diagnosed annually worldwide. But that doesn’t explain everything.
Early cancer has different genetic markers compared to late cancer and is more likely to spread than later diagnosed cancer. This means that this type of cancer may require different treatments and a more customized approach that is appropriate for the patient’s age at the time the cancer developed.
intestinal bacteria
hospital study Brigham and women They analyzed 14 types of cancer and found that the genetic makeup, aggressiveness and growth of the cancer were different in patients who developed the disease before age 50 and those who developed it after age 50.
This difference appeared more prominent in several cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, such as colon, rectum, pancreas, and stomach. One possible reason for this is the connection to our diet and our microbes.
The intestinal microflora undergoes changes depending on the BreastfeedingUse of antibiotics and sugar intake. And as habits in society change over time, so do the bacteria in our gut. This could encourage the implementation of sugar taxes, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
If our healthy cells are programmed into the womb, cancer-causing cells can do so. Maternal diet, obesity, air pollution, and pesticides are known to increase the risk of cancer and chronic disease.
On the other hand, there are severe restrictions on breastfeeding during PregnancyAs in cases of starvation, it increases the risk of infection breast cancer in the offspring. This finding shows that different approaches to people’s social conditions are needed in efforts to reduce cancer risk.
As a hematologist, I care for patients with multiple myeloma, an incurable leukemia that usually affects patients over the age of 70. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of young people diagnosed with this type of cancer worldwide, which can only be partially explained by better screening and diagnostic tools. Recent study in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology He points to obesity as a major risk factor for early cancer, but there are clearly other risk factors that need to be explored.
Understanding what causes early cancer, what risk factors are really important, and what can be done to prevent them are some of the first steps in developing prevention strategies for future generations.
* Sioban integumentary Professor of Pathology at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences at Royal College From surgeons in Ireland
** This article was originally published on the academic news site The Conversation and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. Read profile here original version🇧🇷
– This text was originally published in https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-63593022
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