ancer in Young Adults in Canada, will help steer cancer research in Canada

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Cancer rates down in young men
Sep. 12, 2006. 01:00 AM
MEGAN OGILVIE
HEALTH REPORTER

The number of young men who are diagnosed with cancer is falling in
Canada, but the rates of new cancer cases among young women have not
changed in the last three decades, according to a report by Cancer Care
Ontario.

Improvements in screening and treatment techniques led to fewer young men
and women dying of cancer during the 1980s and 1990s. But the report shows
that young Canadians are still at risk for some types of common cancers,
including testicular cancer and lung cancer.

This is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of cancer in young
adults aged 20 to 44, says Terry Sullivan, president and CEO of Cancer
Care Ontario. The report identifies cancer trends in Canada between 1983
and 1999.

Cancer in young men and women is understudied, even though 10 per cent of
cancers occur in this age group, says Sullivan.

"Most people think of the young adult age group as the healthiest period
of life," he says. "And generally speaking that is true. So that's why
there hasn't been much of a focus on this group."

Until now. Sullivan says this report, Cancer in Young Adults in Canada,
will help steer cancer research in Canada.

Fewer young men have been diagnosed with melanoma, colorectal and lung
cancers since 1992, and death rates for these same cancers have also
decreased. But the report reveals that testicular cancer, the most common
type of cancer for young men, is on the rise, at an increase of 2.2 per
cent per year, says Sullivan. Risk factors for testicular cancer are still
unknown, he says.

For the first time, the report shows more women than men being diagnosed
with lung cancer ? and dying from the disease. Loraine Marrett, director
of the Ontario Cancer Care Surveillance Unit, says this finding is related
to the high number of adolescent women who smoked during the 1970s.
- - - - -
Looks like (above is) the update, but unsure.
J
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/cdic-mcc/23-2/b_e.htm
This is 2002 preliminary results of a cancer surveillance project
This report describes the patterns, time trends and regional variation in
cancer incidence in Canada's young adults. In 1987-1996, 97,469 cancers
were diagnosed in Canadians aged 20-44,

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