Cancer isn’t just about age.
Yes, it’s still true that older people are more likely than younger people to be diagnosed with cancer. Cells change more frequently, and in different ways, when you’re older. And decades of lifestyle choices and exposures can — and often do — result in some form of cancer.
But according to new data from several health organizations, younger people are starting catch up, cancer-wise.
Though the total number of cancer deaths in the United States has fallen by about 4 million a year since the early 1990s, the American Cancer Society recently reported that the rates of younger people diagnosed with cancer are starting to climb, led by a rise in colorectal and breast cancers.
And that trend is playing out locally, particularly in Orange County.
Over the past five years, youth-cancer rates have jumped in most big counties in California, with Orange County leading the Southern California region in that grim statistic, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.
For people age 50 and younger, cancer is hitting more frequently in Orange County than it is in the rest of the region. What’s more, the rate in Orange County — 98.3 out of every 100,000 people in the same age group — outpaces the other counties (San Diego, 95; San Bernardino 93.1; Riverside, 90.3; Los Angeles, 89.6) by a fairly wide margin.
The good news is the youth cancer diagnosis rate in Orange County — and most of the rest of California — is well below the national average of 105.2 per 100,000.
The bad news is that for every number tabulated in those reports, there’s a human being struggling to stay alive.
In all, each year, about 12,800 people age 50 and younger in the five-county Southern California region are diagnosed with some form of cancer. That includes about 2,000 a year in Orange County.
Or, more specifically, it includes guys like Brandon Arbini.
In 2021, Arbini, a Costa Mesa resident, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. It…
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