Lifestyle changes urged amid rising cancer rates in women and young adults

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mortality rates for cancer appear to be on the decline, but there’s another concerning trend that’s raising alarms for doctors. 

More women and younger adults are being diagnosed with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society’s 2025 annual report. 

The good news is deaths decreased by 34% between 1991 and 2002. While outcomes are improving, experts are sounding the alarm when it comes to young people being diagnosed with cancer. 

What should families look out for and how can you reduce your risk?

According to the American Cancer Society’s report, cancer diagnosis rates in women under 50 years old are now 82%, which is higher than their male counterparts. This is also a 51% increase from 2002.

Kohli explained what kinds of cases are trending upward. 

“What we’re seeing in our women is that we’re seeing more hormone types of cancers, like breast cancer and thyroid cancer,” Kohli said. “What we’re seeing in the young population overall is cancers of systems that really work to detox our bodies, like colorectal cancer or pancreatic. Cancers of the detox organs in the body.”

The American Cancer Society also noted some racial disparities in the recent study. Native American people are two to three times more likely to die from kidney, liver, stomach and cervical cancers than white people.

Black people are twice as likely to die from prostate, stomach and uterine corpus cancer compared to white people.

Kohli said it could be a lack of adequate literacy and screening resources among these populations. 

When it comes to reducing your risk, Kohli recommends the four pillars of prevention:

• Be mindful of what you eat and have a healthy diet
• Sleep 7-9 hours a night
• Move 30 minutes for at least 5 days a week
• Work on ways to reduce stress

Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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