Rising cancer rates in younger adults are real, worrying and still partly unexplained.

A new analysis adds important detail for England, suggesting that 11 cancers are becoming more common in people under 50, highlighting a broader shift in who gets cancer and when.

For a generation that expects to be building their lives, cancer is arriving unexpectedly early, and health services are only just beginning to adapt.

The new analysis found that rates of breast, bowel, melanoma, thyroid, multiple myeloma, liver, kidney, gallbladder, pancreatic, womb, mouth and ovarian cancer are all rising in under-50s. They also found that diagnosis rates of many of the same cancers are stable or even falling in older age groups.

This pattern isn’t unique to England. International data shows that early-onset cancers – those diagnosed before age 50 – have been increasing in many countries over the last few decades.

In the UK, the overall number of cancers in people aged roughly 25 to 49 has risen by around a quarter since the early 1990s, even after accounting for population growth.

Globally, the steepest rises in younger adults have been seen in cancers of the bowel, breast, uterus, kidney and several digestive organs, as well as melanoma of the skin.

The new English data fits this broader picture and highlights that the trend cuts across both sexes – though the exact cancers and rates differ between men and women.

Modelling studies also suggest that, without changes, early‑onset cancer........

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