• Posted June 17, 2025

Appendix Cancer Cases Surge in Millennials and Gen X

TUESDAY, June 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — When Chris Williams started feeling sharp stomach pain one night in 2021, he went straight to the emergency room. The next morning, he had surgery to remove his appendix.

But that wasn’t the end of his health scare. A few days later, doctors gave Williams unexpected news: They found a tumor on his appendix. Tests showed it was cancer — and it had already reached stage 3.

"Had it stayed in me for a while longer, it would have been stage 4,” said Williams, who is cancer-free after treatment, told CNN. “It was actually a blessing."

Williams, who was 48 at the time, is part of a growing group of younger adults being diagnosed with appendix cancer.

A new study shows that rates of appendix cancer are rising quickly among millennials and Generation X, especially compared to people born in earlier decades.

The research — published June 10 in the Annals of Internal Medicine — looked at data on nearly 5,000 appendix cancer patients from 1975 to 2019.

Compared to those born in the 1940s, patients born between 1976 and 1984 had cancer rates more than three times higher. Rates were four times higher among those born between 1981 and 1989.

“The rates and trends which we observed were alarming and worrisome,” said lead author Dr. Andreana Holowatyj, a cancer expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“We’re seeing some of these generational effects for cancers of the colon, the rectum, the stomach, and so that’s one of the reasons why we were curious to explore this in rare appendix cancers," she said. 

Appendix cancer is still rare — affecting 1 or 2 people per million each year in the U.S. — but the increase in younger adults is concerning, CNN reported.

“There are no standardized screening techniques for appendiceal cancers. Many of them are incidentally found after presentation of something like acute appendicitis,” Holowatyj added.

That’s what happened to Williams. When his appendix removed during emergency surgery, doctors discovered the tumor.

The appendix is a small pouch on the lower right side of the belly, connected to the large intestine, and is thought to help with immune function.

Appendix cancer often causes no symptoms until it ruptures, and when it does, signs can include: abdominal or pelvic pain, bloating, nausea and vomiting.

These symptoms are also common with appendicitis.

Researchers don’t yet know why appendix cancer is increasing in younger generations.

It’s not likely due to better screenings, they said, since there is no standard way to screen for the disease. Instead, the rise could be linked to “environmental exposures that may increase risk for generations now entering mid-adulthood,” researchers wrote.

What's more, some experts suspect obesity, stress or diet may play a role.

“It’s probably some type of combination, something multifactorial, but we have not yet identified it. There is thankfully now a lot of work, a lot of research going into this,” Dr. Andrea Cercek of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who treated Williams but was not involved in the study, told CNN.

“It is very rare, even though it’s rising,” she added. “However, it is an important part of this overarching story of the rise in cancer in young adults.”

Appendix cancer is usually treated with surgery to remove the appendix. If the cancer has spread, patients may need chemotherapy, CNN said.

“This is a disease where, if not caught before the appendix ruptures, tumor cells disperse throughout the abdominal cavity often,” Holowatyj said. “That’s why up to 1 in every 2 patients are diagnosed with metastatic disease."

Williams has faced more than just cancer. Since age 42, he has also survived four heart attacks.

“A lot of what I’ve experienced has been due to stress,” Williams said.

“My personality has been one where I internalized a lot. Especially among men, we tend to internalize a lot because we feel like we have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders,” he added. “But in so doing, as you’re internalizing, you’re making yourself sick. That internalization leads to stress, and that can lead to heart disease, that can lead to strokes, that can lead to cancer.”

Now, he’s using his experience to help others. He started a nonprofit group in Brooklyn called Heart, Body & Soul, which supports the mental and physical health of people of color — especially men.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on appendix cancer.

SOURCE: CNN, June 15, 2025