Orange County sees the highest rate of early-onset cancer in Southern California. A disease commonly associated with increasing age, hits a younger demographic from the ages of 18-49 in early onset cancer.
With a luxury status in the United States, the Orange County lifestyle does not seem conducive to the National Cancer Institute’s statistic that the early-onset of the deadly disease is on the rise. With the continuous growth of technology, Cancer screening devices are able to detect cancer at earlier stages and have a higher detection success.
With rising rates of obesity and exposure to toxins at early ages, researchers find that these can be contributing factors to the influx of early-onset cancer.
Dr. Misagh Karimi, a medical oncologist at City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center says, “We see that about half of our younger patients diagnosed with colon cancer are overweight.”
Due to the thought that cancer is a disease primarily targeting older adults, younger patients may tend to overlook symptoms and check-ins.
Juliette Landgrave, a patient of City of Hope, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at the age of 38. Despite believing the lump in her breast was just a cyst because of her young age, Landgrave decided to get a mammogram. Talking about early-onset, Landgrave says, “People would tell me I’m too young to have cancer. And obviously cancer doesn’t care about your age.”
Researchers and doctors are urging patients to start scanning and paying attention to symptoms from a younger age. The advice for prevention for younger adults include, diet changes, knowledge of family history, exercise, lowering exposure to smoking, and screening.
