The apparent increase in pancreatic cancer among young people in the US may be because of earlier detection rather than increasing incidence, researchers have suggested.1
In light of concerns over a reported increase in pancreatic cancer in young people, and especially young women, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston looked at prevalence and mortality among those aged 15 to 39 in the US.
They found that between 2001 and 2019 the incidence of pancreatic cancer increased 2.1 fold among young women (3.3 (95% confidence interval 2.8 to 3.8) to 6.9 (95% CI 6.2 to 7.6) per million) and 1.6 fold among young men (3.9 (95% CI 3.3 to 4.4) to 6.2 (95% CI 5.6 to 6.9)).
Additionally, the rate of cancer directed pancreatic surgery more than doubled in both women (from 1.5 to 4.7 per million) and men (1.1 to 2.3 per million), “indicating a substantial increase in surgical interventions in response to …
