Young people's cancers

Cancer (excluding benign, uncertain and unknown behaviour brain, other CNS and intracranial tumours) is the second most common cause of death for males and females aged 15-24. Cancer accounted for 10% of all deaths in this age group in 2020).[1-3]

Survival for young people’s cancers in the UK varies considerably between diagnostic groups, with higher survival for lymphomas and germ cell tumours, and lower survival for liver tumours.
Survival for young people’s cancers in the UK varies considerably within diagnostic groups.
Survival for young people’s cancers in the UK has increased for some diagnostic groups since the 1990s, but by varying amounts and at different points in time.

Nearly 33,800 people who had been diagnosed with cancer at age 15-24 in the UK between 1997 and 2016, were still alive at the end of 2018.[1]

The highest mortality rates for all young people's cancers combined are in the 20-24 age group, with around 6 in 10 (59%) of all cases in young people being diagnosed in this age group (UK, 2017-2019).[1-4] This pattern varies greatly by cancer type.[5]

Young persons’ cancer usually has no known cause. For most cancer types incidence increases with age, which largely reflects cell DNA damage accumulating over time. Damage can result from biological processes or from exposure to risk factors.

Since the early 2000s, young people's cancers incidence rates have increased by around a tenth (9%) in the UK. For females, rates have increased by around a fifth (21%), and for males, rates have remained stable (2017-2019).
Over the last decade, young people's cancers incidence rates have remained stable in the UK. For females, cancer AS incidence rates have increased by almost a tenth (8%), and for males, rates have remained stable (2017-2019).

Since the early 1970s, mortality rates for cancers in young peoples have decreased by around three-fifths (61%) in the UK. Rates in females have decreased by around three-fifths (59%), and rates in males have decreased by almost two-thirds (63%) (2017-2019).
Over the last decade, mortality rates for cancers in young people have decreased by around a quarter (24%) in the UK. Rates in females have remained stable, and rates in males have decreased by more than a quarter (28%) (2017-2019).

There are around 250 cancer deaths in young people in the UK every year, that's nearly 5 every week (2017-2019).
Cancer in young people accounts for less than 1% of all cancer deaths in the UK (2017-2019).
In female young people in the UK, there are around 110 cancer deaths every year (2017-2019).
In male young people in the UK, there are around 140 cancer deaths every year (2017-2019).

Since the early 1990s, incidence rates for cancers in young people have increased by a third (33%) in the UK. Rates in males have increased by more than a fifth (22%), and rates in females have increased by more than two-fifths (44%).
Over the last decade, incidence rates for cancers in young people have increased by around a seventh (15%) in the UK. Rates in males have remained stable, and rates in females have increased by a quarter (25%).

There are around 2,300 new cancer cases in young people in the UK every year, that's more than 6 every day (2017-2019).
Cancer in young people accounts for less than 1% of all new cancer cases in the UK (2017-2019).
In female young people in the UK, there are around 1,200 new cancer cases every year (2017-2019).
In male young people in the UK, there are around 1,100 new cancer cases every year (2017-2019).