Study finds that young people diagnosed with these cancers are highest risk of developing most aggressive form

A first-of-its-kind study has looked at which type of cancers are most likely to return in young people.

Sadly, there's a rising number of young people developing cancer, particularly those under 50. Between the early 1990s and 2018, cancer incidence rates in 25 to 49-year-olds in the UK increased by 22 per cent, says Cancer Research UK.

But it's not just Britain that's seeing these statistics; it's across the globe. One that's seen a concerning increase is colorectal cancer, which has affected 25 to 49-year-olds in 24 different countries, including the US, France, Australia, and Canada, BBC News reported last year.

As there are increasing rates of cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Centre has looked at data from 48,000 AYAs in California and analysed how likely people with different types of cancer are to have it return and spread to other parts of the body.

The number of young people with cancer is rising (Getty Stock Image)

These particular AYAs had one of seven common cancers, were between the ages of 15 and 39, and were diagnosed with cancer between 2006 and 2018 with follow-up through the end of 2020.

The study found that one in ten of the patients diagnosed with nonmetastatic disease later developed metastatic recurrence. Metastasis recurrence is when a person has a period of remission, but the cancer returns and the cells 'spread from the initial or primary site to other parts of the body'. This has 'significantly worse survival outcomes'.

Meanwhile, of the 48,000 patients, 9.2 per cent of them who had metastatic disease at diagnosis, 9.5 per cent developed metastatic recurrence later.

Regarding people who were initially diagnosed with nonmetastatic disease, metastasis recurrence was highest in patients with colorectal cancer, sarcoma, cervical cancer, and breast cancer.

"For AYAs initially diagnosed with nonmetastatic disease, the five-year cumulative incidence of metastatic recurrence was highest for those with: Sarcoma (24.5%), Colorectal cancer (21.8%), Cervical cancer (16.3%), Breast cancer (14.7%)," said the UC Davis Health press release.

1 in 10 of the paitents were diagnosed with metastatic recurrence (Thom Leach/Science Photo Library/Getty images)

It added: "Cervical cancer had particularly high recurrence rates across all stages, with stage 3 patients experiencing a cumulative incidence of 41.7 percent."

In terms of survival rates, the study concluded that survival after metastatic recurrence was worse than survival for those diagnosed with metastatic disease from the beginning, apart from in testicular and thyroid cancers.

Discussing the important findings, Theresa Keegan, the study’s senior author, said: "These findings highlight the significant burden of metastatic recurrence among adolescents and young adults and the need for tailored survivorship care.

"Understanding these patterns helps us identify inequities and evaluate how well our efforts are working to prevent, detect and treat both early and metastatic disease."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.