Global cancer rates increase in people under 50.

ISLAMABAD -- Cancer is increasing in younger age groups, largely because of poor lifestyle choices, diet and obesity, a global oncology review concluded.

But researchers also say the greater incidence could be the result of better screening programmes

The report, published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal, showed a significant increase in many types of cancer in those aged 50 or younger, including cancer of the breast, colon, oesophagus, kidney, liver and pancreas.

Scientists from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston in the US, evaluated the incidence of early onset cancers across several decades, The National reported .

The review found the incidence of cancers in those under 50 has been rising in many parts of the world since the 1990s.

In the past we have not seen this high number, so we are trying to understand if this is a true figure or a result of better screening and medical conditions, said Dr Humaid Al Shamsi, Emirates Oncology Society president.

Changes in diet, lifestyle, obesity rates, environment and the microbiome microbes that are both helpful and potentially harmful and might interact with our genes are said to contribute to the higher rates of cancer in younger people.

The study's senior author, Dr Shuji Ojino, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham...