This year at AACR I was able to present our research looking at the prevalence of screen-detectable cancers in cancer survivors under the age of 50, specifically between the ages of 19-49. We were interested in this given the rise in early-onset cancers but really wanting to understand what proportion of these cancers are screen detectable.
What was the study design?
This was a cross-sectional secondary data analysis looking at the 2021 data collected and disseminated through HINTS-SEER. HINTS-SEER is a dataset collected by the National Cancer Institute, it’s the Health Information National Trends Survey linked with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results survey among cancer survivors.
What were the key findings?
What we found through our secondary data analysis was that 60% of the cancers diagnosed among cancer survivors, 19-49 years, were screen detectable. This was quite surprising to us as we did not expect that over half of cancers diagnosed among this younger early-onset population would be screen detectable.
What is the importance of these results?
The importance of these results are really aligned with what we’re seeing overall with early onset cancers. My work specifically is focussed in colon cancer prevention. We are seeing that now one in five colorectal cancer patients are younger than the age of 55, specifically within the ages of 20 to 54. Now, seeing that over half of cancers diagnosed among adults younger than age 50 are screen detectable, this aligns with some of the methods that we have for early detection to begin early treatment as well.
Several of these cancers are preventable, treatable and beatable, including colorectal cancer. There’s a high five-year survival rate also for non-melanoma skin cancer. We’re also seeing a higher prevalence of breast cancer among women and then we’re seeing colorectal cancer and prostate cancer diagnosed among this particular population as well. So this also speaks to the need to intervene earlier for education on cancer risk. Also among the sample nearly 90% reported a first-degree family history of cancer and only a third reported genetic testing. So we know that whilst screening for several of these cancers does not begin until age 40, excluding cervical cancer, of course, and skin cancer which has a self-examination that we can do, we know that some people in this category would not routinely be diagnosed or screened for cancer until age 40 or above.
However, there are some things that we can do, including educating young adults on the importance of knowing their family history of cancer. Also considering genetic testing early if there is a family history of cancer. But, most importantly, beginning the conversation with their provider if there are some concerns regarding their personal health history and also family health history.
What is next for this research?
I have focussed on colorectal cancer prevention and screening promotion for the last 12 years and now I’ve particularly been interested since 2020 in digital health promotion. So this involves combining my background in social and behavioural science with intervention science to understand how we can reach younger populations. For colorectal cancer, for example, millennials are preparing to age into eligibility for average risk screening. How can we reach millennials and younger populations that tend to have a higher tech use or social media engagement? I believe it is through disseminating health information through these digital platforms. So my work is focussed on designing and testing a digital intervention to promote colorectal cancer screening awareness, education and screening among younger adult populations.
