In a stunning shift, women under 65 are now more likely than men to get cancer.

Women are now being diagnosed with cancer more often than men in certain age groups, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. Among adults aged 50-64, cancer rates are slightly higher in women, and women under 50 are almost twice as likely as men in the same age group to receive a cancer diagnosis.

The increase in breast cancer rates among younger patients is occurring as the incidence of other early-onset cancers — including colorectal, gastric, kidney and liver cancer — is also on the rise, though cancer among patients under 50 is still relatively rare overall, Dr. Partridge said.

The cancer death rate declined by more than one-third over a three-decade period in the United States, though incidence rates for many types of cancer are rising in women and young adults, according to a new report.

Cancer cases are shifting from men to women in the U.S., and from older to younger adults, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

Cancer rates in women under 50 have soared when compared to their male counterparts, the study shows, and are now 82% higher than the rates seen in men, up from 51% in 2002. The shift can be partially blamed on increasing trends for breast and thyroid cancers,