While cancer deaths in the US have decreased in recent years, experts say one age group has seen an overall rise in cancer rates, younger Americans.

William Bringham has the latest on these shifting demographics and what can be done to address it.

They're called early onset cancers, which means cancer among adults under 50 and they are on the rise.

A groundbreaking report from the American Cancer Society

looked at rates of 34 different kinds of cancer

over several decades and found that 17 of them were more prevalent in millennials and Gen Xers.

So what is going on here?

Dr Karen Knutzen is the CEO of the American Cancer Society.

Dr Knutson, thank you so much for being here.

I think the findings in this caught a lot of people by surprise.

When you look at the overall study, what stands out most to you? Well you know there are some

surprises here but in fact we've been seeing some early indicators about this

rise in cancers at an earlier age over the last several years.

Early onset colorectal cancer I think was the canary and the coal mine here

where we saw declining incidents in populations in the 65 and above, but rising in those that are 50 and

younger. These are ages for which we previously not thought about someone being at risk for

polar rectal cancer. So clearly something is changing and this new

study highlights that with 50% as you said of the studies that of the cancers that

we looked at on the rise in Gen Xers and millennials as compared to baby boomers.

Do we know why this is happening?

Because again, the traditional, I'm no oncologist, but the traditional understanding is older people tend to get more

cancers you get cancer as you get older why is this happening with younger people?

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