Shuji Ogino, Professor of Pathology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, decided with colleagues to do a comprehensive review of cancer statistical registries in 44 countries. They thoroughly studied 14 types of malignant tumors. They discovered four things: that there are still many unknown risk factors in the origin of cancer; that the improvement in diagnostic tests and screening only partly explains the increase in cases; that the so-called early-onset cancers in those under 50 are becoming more frequent; that diet has a lot to do with the above. “The fact that eight of these cancers analyzed directly affect the digestive system points to an important role for diet and the bacteria that live in our gut, called the microbiome,” Dr. Ogino told CNN. We are talking about cancers such as colorectal, pancreas or stomach. Ogino and colleagues published these and other findings in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology: “Since the mid-20th century,” they state in their findings, “substantial multigenerational changes have occurred in the exposome (including changes in diet, lifestyle, obesity, the environment, and the microbiome), all of which could interact with genomic and/or genetic susceptibilities.” That is, these changes in our eating habits are being for the worse: overweight and obesity are on the rise, and younger ages, which increases the risk of early suffering from these cancers of digestive origin (such as colorectal, which has skyrocketed). We speak, of course, of countries with middle and high income. According to the conclusions of Ogino and his colleagues, “the incidence of tumors of various organs diagnosed in adults younger than 50 years of age has been increasing in many parts of the world since the 1990s.” Put another way: those born in 1990 are at higher risk than those born in 1980, and those born in 1970 are less at risk. The problem is that these cancers in young adults tend to be more aggressive. In the United States, the tumors that have grown the most among those under 50 are those of the breast, endometrium, gallbladder and bile ducts, kidney, pancreas, thyroid, stomach or multiple myeloma. As the authors of the Harvard study say, much remains to be investigated, but they already warn: “the early-onset cancer epidemic could be a manifestation of growing trends in the development of many chronic diseases in young and future generations.” Therefore, it is no longer worth quitting smoking, exercising, sleeping well and leading a healthy life. It also matters what we put in our mouths. And as we see it, more and more.