Quadruple Rise in Uncommon Cancer Seen in Older Millennials
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A new study has found a striking increase in appendix cancer in Americans born after 1945, with older millennials experiencing the most dramatic rise.
Appendix cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, is fortunately very rare, affecting only about 1–2 people in every million annually.
However, the study led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, found that appendiceal adenocarcinoma (AA) diagnoses have more than tripled in those born around 1980 and quadrupled in those born around 1985.
While older millennials were those with the highest number of diagnoses, researchers believe that as higher-risk birth cohorts continue to age, it is likely that AA incidence rates will increase in the future.
The study was based on data from the National Cancer Institute SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) Program, with the researchers analyzing the incidence of AA in people aged 20 or older from 1975 to 2019. In total, they examined 4,858 confirmed cases.
A stock image shows a doctor pressing on a young woman's appendix.
A stock image shows a doctor pressing on a young woman's appendix.
getty images
According to the Cleveland Clinic, sex and age are risk factors for appendix cancer; women are more likely to develop AA, are are those aged 50 and over.
Other factors include smoking, a family history of cancer and health conditions such as atrophic gastritis (where the stomach lining becomes chronically inflamed), pernicious anemia (an autoimmune condition which affects the red blood cells) and Zollinger–Ellison syndrome (in which tumors cause ulcers in the stomach and upper small intestine), which have all been linked to a higher risk.
Symptoms of appendix cancer vary from person to person—and sometimes can be asymptomatic.
When present, symptoms usually include appendicitis, bloating, fluid buildup in the abdomen, increase in waist size, pain in the abdomen or pelvis, changes in bowel habits, nausea, vomiting and a tendency to feel full.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), risk factors for cancer in general include alcohol usage, HPV and obesity, which is associated with a higher risk of 13 types of cancer.
These include adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, breast, colon/rectum, uterus, gallbladder, upper stomach, kidneys, liver, ovaries, pancreas, thyroid, meningioma, and multiple myeloma.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about appendiceal adenocarcinoma? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Reference
Holowatyj, A. N., Washington, M. K., Goldberg, R. M., & Murphy, C. C. (2025). Birth cohort effects in appendiceal adenocarcinoma incidence across the United States. Annals of Internal Medicine, 178(7). https://doi.org/10.7326/ANNALS-24-02479
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