Alarm over mystery cancer 'epidemic' striking under-50s like Kate Middleton as scientists scramble to find cause of startling increase

Scientists are scrambling to find the cause of a mystery cancer 'epidemic' which is striking under-50s.

Kate Middleton's shock diagnosis last week has shone a light on the startling trend, with top doctors claiming it is a worldwide problem.

Despite years of research, researchers are baffled as to what is behind the problem. 

Increased awareness thanks to the likes of Dame Deborah James, who died from bowel cancer aged 40 in 2022, and improved diagnosis methods are thought to have played a role.

But, in the wake of the Princess of Wales' news, one surgeon claimed an yet-to-be discovered factor could be to blame. 

Professor Andrew Beggs, a consultant colorectal surgeon and a senior clinical fellow at the University of Birmingham, said: 'There might be an unknown environmental factor that we haven’t discovered, despite extensive research.' 

He added: 'Young onset cancer is by no means rare.

'I run a clinic for early-onset cancer in adults and we're seeing more and more people in their 40s with cancer.'

He added other factors that could also be contributing to the rise are better cancer detection methods, awareness of symptoms and better screening of genetic conditions that increase cancer risk, like the BRCA gene like Angelina Jolie has. 

Maia Kennedy, 38, of Hackney, London, today told of her own cancer journey, which shared similarities with the 42-year-old Princess of Wales'.

Ms Kennedy began suffering from nausea in December 2023, which her GP initially put down to acid reflux.

The website developer was eventually called for an emergency test, where doctors found a tumour in her bowel during her colonoscopy.

At the time it was thought to be pre-cancerous.

Ms Kennedy, who lives with her partner of 10 years, was then told it was stage one bowel cancer after undergoing routine surgery to remove part of her bowel earlier this year.

The Princess of Wales herself underwent planned abdominal surgery in January. Doctors originally didn't think her condition was cancerous but tests later revealed the disease. 

She started a course of preventative chemotherapy in Late February and has not named the type of cancer she had. 

Another cancer survivor, Becki Buggs was 43 when she received the news she had pancreatic cancer. 

She told MailOnline earlier this year that she was motivated to get tests after her husband commented she looked like 'a Minion', a skin change later revealed to be jaundice.

Men are also at risk. 

Ricky Smith, of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, learned last month that the cause of his agonizing headaches wasn't stress but a type of brain cancer. 

The father-of-three has since been given 15 months to live. His inoperable tumour was only spotted by an eye test. 

Celebrities have also been caught in the rising pattern of increasing cancer cases in the young. 

Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman was killed by colon cancer before the age of 50, medically known as 'early-onset'.

Others are currently being treated for the disease, such as actress Oliva Munn, who at 43 recently revealed she had breast cancer.

Sofia Vergara of Modern Family, Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor, and singer Kylie Minogue were all also diagnosed with cancer before turning 50. 

UK data shows that while cancer rates have increased across all age groups, cases have increased far faster among the young.

According to Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the incidence rate among younger Brits (aged between 25-49) is now 162.4 cases per 100,000 people each year.

This is 22 per cent higher than the figure in the 90s. 

And the increase cannot be dismissed as just being due to better cancer detection methods, experts argue. 

For comparison, rates among the over 75s, who account for about half of all cancer cases in the UK, only increased by 9 per cent in the same period. 

Cases among the under 50s are still, statistically speaking, rare, only accounting for one in 10 cases of the disease in Britain.

However, the rate of increase, and the fact that so far scientists have been unable to pin the cause, is worrying experts. 

Oncologist Dr Shivan Sivakumar, from the University of Birmingham, described the situation as an 'epidemic'.

He said: 'There is an epidemic currently of young people (under 50) getting cancer. 

'It is unknown the cause of this, but we are seeing more patients getting abdominal cancers.' 

Professor Karol Sikora, a world-renowned oncologist with over 40 years' experience, told MailOnline earlier this year that experts had 'no idea' what was causing a 'frightening' surge in cases of pancreatic cancer, especially among young women.

Speaking today, he added that experts can't explain the reason behind the rise of cancer in young people.  

'The truth is we just don't know. The causes of cancer are locked into a population many years before they become apparent,' he said, 

Professor Sikora also said that the increase has have been observed for years and there are a number of reasons experts suspected were to blame.   

'Its' got nothing to do with Covid or vaccines - it started happening long before,' he said.

'I believe its probably due to lifestyle changes - obesity, fatty diet, sedentary behaviour, sitting at desks all day and of course better diagnostics.'

There also appears to be a gender divide in cancer rates among the young.

CRUK data shows women in their early 40s, like Kate, are twice as likely (2.1 times), to get cancer than a man of the same age.

A similar gender divide is also present among cancer diagnoses in their 30s and late 40s.

The gap does balance out slightly as Brits age, with men having a higher chance of being diagnosed from the age of 60 onwards. 

Britain isn't an outlier when it comes to an increase in cancer rates among young people, with similar rates spotted across the globe. 

A study published in the British Medical Journal last year found cases of early onset of cancer increased overall globally by 79 per cent between 1990 and 2019. 

The experts also predicted cases of cancer in the young are set to rise further, by an additional 31 per cent by 2030.  

World Health Organization data shows Australia had the highest number of early-onset cancer diagnoses in the world, with a rate of 135 per 100,000 people in 2022.. 

New Zealand came second, with 119 cases in per 100,000 people among the young.

In comparison the UK and the US were far lower but still high in the global rankings, coming 28th and 6th, respectively. 

Diets being high in red meat and low in fruit as well as high alcohol consumption and tobacco use were pinned as the main risk factors.

Experts have previously linked the rise of such processed diets in the Western world from the 50s onwards to a rise in dietary related cancers, like bowel cancer, among younger people. 

More than 375,000 cases of cancer are detected every year in Britain, the equivalent of 1,000 each day, according to CRUK.

About 100 of these are among people under the age of 50.

Cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and bowel make-up the overwhelming majority of all new cancer diagnoses, accounting for around half of the total. 

The Princess of Wales' cancer was discovered only after she underwent major abdominal surgery at The London Clinic in January. 

Kensington Palace has said it will not be sharing details of what kind of cancer she has, or what stage of cancer it is and has asked people not to speculate.

In a statement, His Majesty said he is 'so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did' and remains in the 'closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law'. 

Kate is currently undergoing preventative chemotherapy following the discovery of her cancer, having started the treatment in February. 

Preventative chemotherapy, medically called adjuvant chemotherapy, uses powerful drugs that target fast growing cells like cancer. 

It is designed to eliminate any small traces of cancer that remain following surgery in a bid to reduce the risk of the disease returning.