Cancer cases increasing in women while declining in men: report

Cancer cases are shifting from men to women in the U.S., and from older to younger adults, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

Men in 1992 had a 1.6 higher risk than women of being diagnosed with cancer. But as of 2021, the risk was almost equal, according to a report published Thursday by the American Cancer Society.

The report highlights that the cancer burden is shifting from men to women in the United States — narrowing the gap between the sexes — as well as from older to younger adults. 

For the first time, cancer rates in women ages 50 to 64 have surpassed those in men, the report found. Women under age 50 also had an 82% higher cancer rate in 2021 than men the same age, compared with a 51% higher rate in 2002. The trend may be in part because of rising rates of breast and thyroid cancer in younger women, along with declining rates of melanoma, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate cancer in men under 50 over the roughly 20-year period.

“Here’s the bottom line: We’ve got more cancers overall, particularly those in younger people, and particularly those in women,” said Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society.

“Ten years ago, men were 50% more likely to get cancer than today,” he said. “Today, it’s almost close to even, and that’s a combination of two things: less cancers in men but, importantly, more cancers in women.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/cancer-cases-increasing-women-declining-men-report-rcna187586

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