This Rare 'Silent' Cancer Has Quadrupled Among Millennials

A new study, published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that a rare form of cancer – appendix cancer, or appendiceal adenocarcinoma – is as much as three times as common among Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980, as it is among those born in the ’40s.

But for older millennials who were born in the ’80s (millennials were born between 1981-1996), the rates were more than four times higher. 

The NHS’s Health Research Authority describes appendix cancer as a “rare and understudied” disease, with the Christie NHS Foundation Trust explaining it accounts for 0.4% of all cancers of the bowel. 

But what is appendix cancer, how do you spot it, and why might it be on the rise?

Appendix cancer can be hard to diagnose 

Appendiceal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of appendix cancer, can often develop “without developing symptoms,” the Cleveland Clinic shares. 

Because it can be so hard to spot, it is sometimes described as a “silent” cancer in its early stages.

Often, people only notice signs when the tumours have spread; the NHS say that it is often only spotted during surgery. 

Some symptoms that may occur, however, include: 

AppendicitisBloating A buildup of fluid in your abdomenAn increased waist sizeAbdominal or pelvic pain.Changes in bowel habits (including diarrhoea)Nausea and vomitingFeeling full soon after you start eating. 

Speak to your GP immediately if you notice signs of appendix cancer.

Why would appendix cancer be on the rise among younger people?

This study did not seek to find out why different generations have different rates of appendix cancer.

But it is not the only cancer which has followed a similar generational pattern – bowel and breast cancer, for instance, are both affecting more and more young people while rates among older people stay roughly stable.

Speaking to the New York Times, gastroenterologist and colon cancer expert Dr Andrew T. Chan, who was not involved in the study, suggested that some changes to our diet over time might be responsible for the uptick in bowel cancers. 

But it is hard to say more about appendix cancer, which is already a poorly understood condition.

Cancer expert Professor Andreana Holowaty told the publication that the rise does not seem to be caused by an increase in diagnoses, however, not least because the disease is so hard to spot.

“Similar trends have been reported for other gastrointestinal cancers, suggestive of a potential shared cause contributing to this increasing cancer burden across generations,” the paper reads.