Researchers are reporting a startling spike in appendiceal adenocarcinoma (AA) — otherwise known as appendix cancer — in people born after 1945.
Cases have more than tripled in Americans born between 1980 and 1985 and quadrupled in those born between 1985 and 1990, according to a new study out of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“I think it’s alarming,” study author Andreana N. Holowatyj, an assistant professor of hematology and oncology, told The Post.
Appendix cancer is very rare, estimated to affect only about one or two people per 1 million per year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Indeed, Holowatyj’s team identified only 4,858 people aged 20 and over who were diagnosed with AA between 1975 and 2019.
The findings, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, are nonetheless part of a troublesome trend.
AA is yet another type of cancer that seems to be on the rise in younger adults — joining the ranks of colorectal, breast, uterine, kidney and pancreatic cancers.
“I think the fact that we’re seeing birth cohort or generational effects across a plethora of cancer types is indeed alarming because it really stresses the need to understand what is underpinning this pattern in order for us to be able to actively reverse it,” Holowatyj said.
As with other cancers, health experts aren’t exactly sure what could be causing the jump in AA cases.
“I think it’s going to be a constellation of factors that may be driving appendiceal cancer development,” Holowatyj said.
“One of the things we often think about is, what has changed across birth cohorts over time?” she said.
Holowatyj pointed to “possibly the use of antibiotics, both in childhood and in the food chain, the industrialization of the food industry over time, the lifestyle patterns and the tripling of obesity since the 1970s, increasingly sedentary behavior, possibly environmental exposures that have changed across different parts of the country and over time.”
Whatever the cause, she hopes this study encourages the public to be “aware of this cancer, to know about the signs and symptoms of appendix cancers and know that we’re seeing more cases diagnosed across generations.”
Many of these symptoms can mimic appendicitis:
- Abdominal pain, often on the lower right side
- Bloating, diarrhea or constipation
- Feeling full after small meals
- Unexplained weight loss
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal mass or swelling
Holowatyj hopes that people with symptoms “see a healthcare professional in a timely manner because it’s truly critical to detect appendix cancer early.”
There are no standardized screening tests for appendix cancers — most cases are diagnosed incidentally after someone has their appendix removed.
“I think it’s important to understand that appendix cancer is actually diagnosed in younger ages more commonly than we see in other cancers,” she said, noting that one in three patients diagnosed with appendix cancer is under the age of 50, compared to one in eight for colon cancer.
