The Five Most Common Types of Cancer in Adults Aged 18 to 49 in 2023 Were Skin, Breast, Thyroid and Other Endocrine Glands, Digestive Organs and Female Genital Organs
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 -- From 2020 to 2023, cancer treatment rates (defined as the percentage of patients with cancer who received medical services in a given year out of all patients in a given age group who received medical services in that same year) increased in patients aged 18 to 49. The greatest increase was 11.7 percent in patients aged 18 to 29, followed by 7.5 percent in patients aged 40 to 49 and 7.2 percent in patients aged 30 to 39. By comparison, the increase in patients aged 50 to 59 was 5.5 percent. These and other findings are reported in a FAIR Health white paper released today: Cancer in Younger Adults: A Claims-Based Study.
In this report, FAIR Health delves into its repository of over 49 billion commercial healthcare claim records, the nation's largest such database, to examine cancer trends in adults aged 18 to 49 during the period 2016-2023. This study focuses on cancer treatment rates by age over time, cancer treatment rates by state, types of cancer, treatment costs, cancer vaccine utilization rates,1 cancer screening utilization rates and provider specialties treating cancer patients. The key findings include the following:
- The five most common types of cancer in adults aged 18 to 49 in 2023 were (in order from most to least common) those of the skin, breast, thyroid and other endocrine glands, digestive organs and female genital organs.
- Over a longer period, from 2016 to 2023, overall cancer treatment rates decreased in patients aged 18 to 49. Possibly the most striking drop was in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers, where the percentage of patients receiving treatment for HPV-related cancers fell 27.9 percent in the 18-29 age group. There were several notable exceptions to the decline. For patients aged 40 to 49, the cancer treatment rate increased 11.2 percent for cancers of the digestive system, 18.2 percent for colorectal cancer and 8.0 percent for HPV-related cancers.
- Among patients aged 18 to 49 diagnosed with cancer in 2022, the median2 allowed amount3 for all medical services received during the initial 12 months after their diagnosis was more than $8,400. That is almost eight times higher than the median allowed amount for similarly aged patients without cancer who received at least one medical service from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. Those patients had a median allowed amount for all medical services received of approximately $1,100.
- In 2022, the three cancers with the largest total costs of services incurred by patients aged 18 to 49 with a cancer diagnosis (by median allowed amount) were cancers of the breast, respiratory and intrathoracic organs, and digestive organs. All three of these groups of cancers had a median allowed amount over $25,000 and an average allowed amount over $80,000.
- There was an especially marked difference in median versus average4 allowed amounts for two types of cancers in patients aged 18 to 49: leukemias and lymphomas, indicating that some patients incurred substantially higher costs than the median amount. The median allowed amount for all leukemias was less than $9,000, while the average allowed amount was over $135,000. The median allowed amount for all lymphomas was almost $12,000, while the average allowed amount was over $95,000. Two factors that led to higher cancer treatment costs were the use of chemotherapy or immunotherapy and/or an inpatient facility stay.
- The hepatitis B vaccine helps prevent liver cancer caused by hepatitis B infection.5 Among patients aged 18 to 49, the age group 18-29 had the highest hepatitis B vaccine utilization from 2016 to 2022, but the age group 40-49 had the highest in 2023. That year, 0.8 percent of patients in the age group 40-49 received the hepatitis B vaccine, compared to 0.6 percent of the age group 18-29.
- In the age group 40-49, 25.8 percent of patients in 2016 received any kind of cancer screening. This rose to 35.4 percent in 2023, a 36.9 percent increase. This was the largest increase in the percentage receiving any kind of cancer screening among patients aged 18 to 49. Breast cancer screening in the 40-49 age group increased from 36.1 percent of patients in 2016 to 41.1 percent in 2023, a 13.9 percent rise, while colon cancer screening rose from 4.0 percent in 2016 to 12.4 percent in 2023, a rise of 206.8 percent.
For the complete white paper, click here.
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About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of commercial healthcare claims data, which includes over 49 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 3 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its commercial data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D, which accounts for a separate collection of over 49 billion claim records; FAIR Health includes among the commercial claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.
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