Researchers say obesity as well as genetic and environmental factors may be at play
The burden of cancer has shifted significantly, with women being higher in diagnosis and risks than men, according to a new report released by the American Cancer Society. For the first time, cancer rates in women ages 50-64 years have surpassed those in men, the report found.
Women under age 50 also had an 82 per cent higher cancer rate than men the same age, compared with a 51 per cent higher rate a decade ago.
According to the report, the cancer mortality rate has also fallen by 34 per cent, which has led to around 4.5 million fewer deaths over the two decades. This has been attributed to less smoking, better treatment, and earlier cancer detection.
Lung cancer rates rising among women
Even though the report did not determine why there is an increase, researchers say obesity as well as genetic and environmental factors may be at play.
"Continued reductions in cancer mortality because of drops in smoking, better treatment, and earlier detection is certainly great news," Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, said in a statement. "However, this progress is tempered by rising incidence in young and middle-aged women, who are often the family carers, and a shifting cancer burden from men to women."
Apart from breast cancer, liver cancer, and melanoma, the report found that even though cases of lung cancer declined overall from 2012 to 2021, the decrease was slower in women. Experts say it happens mostly because women are slower to take up heavy smoking and slower to quit.
Doctors say if you are a woman under the age of 65 years, you will have a greater chance of developing lung cancer than a man.
Why are cancer cases rising among women?
According to experts, there are several reasons why cancer cases are higher among women. One of the most important is that approximately 40 per cent of all cancers could be prevented by changes in modifiable risk factors—lifestyle and environment—that can be changed and make the development of cancer more or less likely.
Also, excess body weight and obesity are leading to twice as many cancer cases in women as in men. Younger women in particular have recorded a rise in endometrial cancer, which is strongly linked to obesity.
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