Little-known form of cancer surges in young people and there's one alarming reason why
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Getty/Getty Stock Image
The data from Cancer Research UK has shown a significant rise in cases since the early 90s.
Cancer has always been a concerning disease, and due to advancements in technology, we have gotten better at both diagnosing and treating the disease.
We're also able to pinpoint which part of the body is developing the cancer cells and highlight what actions increase and decrease the likelihood of getting this type of cancer.
However, according to research from charity Cancer Research UK, there is a form of cancer that doctors have been seeing more cases of in the country.
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Not only is there an increase, but it's mainly being seen in young people.
Gallbladder cancer is rare, but there has been an 84 per cent rise in cases of the gastrointestinal cancer among Britons aged 24-49 since the early 90s.
The gallbladder is an apple-sized organ near the liver, and is primarily responsible for storing bile, a substance used by the body to break down the fats we eat.
Experts believe the reason for the increase may be in changes to the diet that have happened over the last few years among young people.
This would ultimately cause subtle changes to the bacteria in our gut, the microbiome.
Diets known to include significant ultra-processed and processed foods are believed to increase a person’s chance of developing certain types of cancers.
In the UK, thankfully, gallbladder cancer cases are rare, with just over 1,000 cases diagnosed each year.
As well as this, case numbers remain small, with only about 35 new people diagnosed among the 25 to 49 group per year, on average. This is compared to hundreds among older Brits who remain the most common patients diagnosed.
Professor Karol Sikora, who specializes in oncology and has been described as a leading world authority on cancer, has said the increase had been clear for years, according to a Mail Online report.
In addition to noting the possibility of diet being a factor, he listed a host of other possibilities seen in modern living. He noted pollution, alcohol consumption, junk food consumption, and more stressful lives, can have knock-on impacts on a person's microbiome, and in turn influence cancer risk.
He did note that pinpointing the cause to one factor is difficult.
He said: “It's just impossible to measure...it's a complex series of things that can affect it.”