There has been a sharp rise in the number of younger adults diagnosed with cancer, according to new figures from cancer institute IKNL.

Last year, almost 4,200 people aged between 18 and 39 were diagnosed with some form of cancer, compared with 3,100 around 35 years ago. Over the same period, the number of young adults in the Netherlands fell from 3.8 million in 1990 to 3.6 million.

Young women are now 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than young men, reversing the trend seen in the broader population.

In particular, there was a rise in breast cancer diagnoses, from 600 in 1989 to 878 in 2024. Cervical cancer and the skin cancer melanoma are also on the increase among younger women.

Among younger men, testicular cancer is by far the most common. The number of diagnoses has more than doubled, from 241 to 574. Melanoma has also increased among men, the IKNL said.

The IKNL did not give a definitive explanation for the rise, but said that breast and testicular cancer are more likely to occur in younger adults when there is a family history of the disease.