An article just out in "Lancet Public Health," on this topic.
The formal article:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/piis2468-2667(24)00156-7/fulltext and a discussion of it:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/gen-x-and-millennials-at-higher-cancer-risk-than-older-generations/ar-bb1qz7zf?ocid=bingnewsserpwhich tells us
"Generation X and millennials are at an increased risk of developing certain cancers compared with older generations, a shift that is probably due to generational changes in diet, lifestyle and environmental exposures, a large new study suggests."
" ... cancer rates for 17 of the 34 most common cancers are increasing in progressively younger generations."
"Cancers with the most significant increased risk are kidney, pancreatic and small intestine, which are two to three times as high for millennial men and women as baby boomers."
" ... there may be several contributing factors:
rising obesity rates
altered microbiomes from unhealthy diets high in saturated fats, red meat and ultra-processed foods or antibiotic use
poor sleep
sedentary lifestyles
environmental factors"The article goes on to present an argument for lowering screening ages for various cancers, discusses missed diagnoses in younger patients, and calls for more emphases on studying and dealing with this claimed rise of cancer occurrence in younger patients.
The formal article (first link above) summarizes this study by stating:
"In conclusion, controlling for age and period effects on cancer incidence rates, each successive generation born during the second half of the 20th century has had increased incidences of many common cancer types of heterogeneous aetiologies compared with preceding generations in the USA." It also concentrates almost entirely on how the study was conducted, parameters etc., and statistical conclusions, etc., rather than examining how the causal factors suggested above (obesity, sedentary lifestyles, etc.) had impact on these cancer increases. The article, as articles such as this one usually do, only calls for "further study" to determine such impact.
And perhaps some will feel that the listing of causal factors above might be seen as a kind of subtle scolding, due to negligent lifestyle, of younger folk now with cancer.
But this kind of generation-specific variation in cancer rates, if true, whatever one thinks of possible causes, is noteworthy and worth some thought.
Of course no comment in the study on whether PCa increased in the subjects of the study, as the Gen X and millennials involved were too young, but it would be interesting to see, years from now, whether the "negligent lifestyle" factors suggested above did seem to increase its prevalence.