Cancer rates are rising among people under age 50. Here’s why employers should care

Cancer rates among people younger than 50 years old are on the rise, according to a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study, which looked at a cohort of more than 560,000 cancer patients, found the number of early-onset cancers among this group increased slightly, by 0.74%, from 2010 to 2019. The uptick was more pronounced among women, who saw a 4.4% increase, as well as individuals aged 30 to 39, where cancer diagnoses increased 19.4%. The researchers documented sharp increases in certain types of the disease, including breast and gastrointestinal cancer.

It’s not yet clear what risk factors are causing this uptick in cancers among people under 50, and the authors of the paper wrote that they hope it serves “as a call to action for further research” on the environmental conditions associated with the “concerning pattern.”

In the meantime, though, HR can play a role ensuring their workers catch these cancers early by encouraging them to get screened and lowering barriers to access, leaders with Color Health and the American Cancer Society told HR Brew.

Impact on employers. Cancer surpassed musculoskeletal conditions as the top driver of large employers’ healthcare costs last year, according to the nonprofit Business Group on Health. This year, 44% of employers surveyed said they are anticipating more late-stage cancer diagnoses in their population.

This uptick in late-stage diagnoses may be a knock-on effect of the Covid-19 pandemic; screenings for breast and cervical cancer decreased by 8% and 12% in 2020, respectively, compared to 2018, according to a 2022 study by researchers with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and Emory University.

When employees are diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, the disease has a more significant economic impact on employers, Bill Dahut, chief scientific officer for the ACS, told HR Brew.

Drugs for late-stage prostate cancer, for example, can run from $10,000 to $15,000 per month, Dahut said, and will add up if a worker needs to take them for three or four years. The health coverage bill for these treatments, coupled with the loss of productivity due to employees missing work, imposes a much steeper cost on employers, compared with workers who receive treatment earlier on in the course of their disease.

“Economically, it’s certainly much better to find the cancer earlier, where it can either be safely followed or be treated,” Dahut said.

Why HR should care. In June, the ACS announced a partnership with Color Health, a healthcare technology company, in the hopes of boosting cancer prevention and screening services for Americans who receive healthcare through their employer.

Employers and unions that participate in the program will receive access to data on their employee and member screening rates, according to a press release from Color Health, with an eye toward identifying “gaps in access within their population.”

In working with large, self-insured employers, Color Health identified cancer and cardiovascular health as two “bedrock areas in employer-based healthcare that still had not really been innovated on and thought of in a holistic manner,” CEO Othman Laraki told HR Brew.

Laraki said his organization is encouraging employers to raise awareness about workers’ potential risks for certain types of cancers, as well as guidelines for screenings, which have shifted in recent years. The ACS, for example, lowered the recommended starting age for colorectal screenings to 45 from 50 in 2021. Salesforce and the Teamsters union are among the organizations currently partnering with Color Health to help employees better understand their genetic risks for certain cancers.

Beyond awareness campaigns, Laraki also sees promise for employers who can find ways to lower barriers workers face when seeking preventative care. That may mean partnering with providers that will offer home screenings, or coordinate travel for a patient who needs a mammography, for example.

“You need…healthcare to intersect with people’s lives,” Laraki said.