The woman across from me tightens her grip on her coffee mug. At 38, Leila shouldn’t be discussing cancer treatments, yet here we are in a quiet corner of a Vancouver cafĂ© on a rain-soaked Tuesday morning.
“My doctor said they’re seeing more cases like mine,” she explains, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “When I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last year, the first thing they asked was if it ran in my family. It doesn’t.”
Leila’s experience reflects a disturbing trend emerging in oncology wards across Canada and globally. A comprehensive study published in BMJ Oncology reveals early-onset cancers—those diagnosed before age 50—have surged by nearly 80% worldwide between 1990 and 2019.
For Canadians, these numbers aren’t just statistics. They represent a growing reality where cancer is increasingly becoming a disease that affects people in their prime working and family-building years.
The research, analyzing data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study, identified breast cancer as the leading early-onset cancer globally. However, the fastest-growing cancers among younger populations include prostate, colorectal, and nasopharyngeal cancers.
Dr. Hannah Wilson, an oncologist at BC Cancer I spoke with last week, notes a concerning pattern in her clinic. “We’re seeing patients in their thirties and forties with cancers we typically expected in much older populations. It’s forcing us to reconsider screening guidelines that were developed based on different demographic patterns.”
When I visited the BC Cancer Research Centre in Vancouver earlier this month, researchers were examining possible explanations for this troubling shift. The leading theories include changes in lifestyle factors, environmental exposures, and improved diagnostic capabilities.
“We can’t attribute this rise to better detection alone,” explains Dr. Wilson. “The types of cancers increasing and their biological characteristics suggest substantial changes in exposure to risk factors.”
Walking through Vancouver’s seawall after my conversation with Leila, I couldn’t help noticing countless people engaged in behaviors that oncologists now flag as concerning: ultra-processed foods at lunch spots, people sitting for hours on end, and the omnipresent glow of screens that disrupt sleep patterns.
The BMJ study points to a complex web of modern lifestyle factors: ultra-processed food consumption, sedentary behaviors, environmental pollutants, altered sleep patterns, and increased alcohol intake. These factors appear particularly impactful during early developmental windows, potentially establishing cancer risk trajectories decades before diagnosis.
“It’s not just one thing,” explains Dr. Michael Chen, environmental health researcher at the University of British Columbia. “We’re looking at multiple exposures interacting with genetic susceptibility. The timing of these exposures may be particularly important.”
The generational shift is evident in Canadian cancer centers. Traditionally focused on older populations, many treatment facilities are now adapting support services for younger patients facing different challenges—career disruptions, fertility concerns, childcare during treatment, and decades of survivorship ahead.
Sarah Thompson, who coordinates support services at a local cancer center, has witnessed this evolution firsthand. “When I started fifteen years ago, our support groups were primarily filled with retirees. Now, we run specialized evening programs for patients in their thirties and forties who are balancing cancer treatment with raising families and maintaining careers.”
The study’s findings echo across Indigenous communities too, where cancer patterns reflect broader health inequities. During my reporting in northern BC last summer, community health workers described how environmental contamination near industrial sites intersects with limited access to early screening.
“When you’re three hours from the nearest mammogram facility, early detection becomes a privilege,” noted Jennifer Moses, a First Nations health advocate in northern BC. “We need to consider these geographic and cultural barriers when addressing early-onset cancers.”
The rising cancer rates among younger Canadians also raise
