Health Metrics Not Improving? Gen X More Prone to Cancer Than Their Parents, Grandparents [Study]

Gen X is more prone to cancer compared to their baby boomer parents and grandparents, according to a new study.

Gen X More Susceptive to Cancer Than Baby Boomers

In a new study, Philip Rosenberg, a biostatistician at the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Rockville, MD, studied the trend of cancer in different generations. The study yielded surprising results—Gen X is outdoing baby boomers in getting cancer.

Gen X, those born between 1965 and 1980, is experiencing a higher incidence of cancer per capita than their parents' and grandparents' generations. Rosenberg and his NCI colleague Adalberto Miranda-Filho caution that millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and younger generations may also see an increased incidence of cancer if the trend persists.

Rosenberg, a self-described boomer, set out to determine whether his generation, born between 1946 and 1964, fared any better or worse than the Greatest (1908-1927) and Silent (1928-1945) generations of his parents. And if his Gen Z (1997-2012) and millennial (1981-1996) offspring would fare even better.

"You hope to see things get better when it comes to health metrics, life expectancy [and] cancer rates," Rosenberg said. "You hope to see all that improve."

However, it turned out that their theory wasn't accurate. The team collected data from 3.8 million individuals who were diagnosed with invasive cancer.

They estimated the rate of Gen X at age 60 and studied generational disparities in cancer diagnoses at various body regions. The researchers were able to identify patterns for Gen X as they are at an age where cancer can occur, but they were unable to provide estimates for the millennial generation because they are not yet old enough to have many cancers.

Rosenberg was not pleased with the forecast. In addition to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia, Gen X women were predicted to have higher rates of thyroid, kidney, rectal, uterine, colon, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers than baby boomers. Men of Generation X have predicted increases in malignancies of the thyroid, kidney, rectal, colon, and prostate.

The study examines the frequency of new cancer diagnoses rather than the number of cancer-related deaths.

However, there were also some positive aspects. When compared to baby boomers, Gen X women experienced a decline in lung and cervical cancer. In contrast, Gen X males experienced a decrease in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lung, liver, and gallbladder cancers.

However, the researchers discovered that the situation became dire when all the cancers were combined since the "gaining cancers numerically overtook falling cancers."

Rare Condition That Can Protect One From Cancer

Another study discovered that individuals with Laron syndrome for two decades have lower blood pressure, insulin resistance, and blood sugar compared to family members without this rare dwarfism condition. The condition also appeared to protect against cancer. Men and women with Laron syndrome stand four feet, six inches and four feet, seven inches tall, respectively.

Adults with dwarfism were the first to be diagnosed with Laron syndrome in a rural area of Ecuador. Growth hormone receptor deficiency, or just GHRD, is another term.

People with Laron syndrome usually have high growth hormone levels, but because of a genetic flaw, their bodies are unable to produce the hormone's target. Targets that work similarly to locks are called receptors.

Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, co-lead study author, was shocked to learn that it offered cancer protection when he first started researching Laron syndrome. In the end, higher growth hormone levels have been reliably linked to cancer-at least most of the time.

Check out more news and information on Cancer in Science Times.