Why Do New Cancer Diagnoses Rise at Age 65? By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, April 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A few years ago, Dr. Joseph Shrager, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, noticed that lung cancer diagnoses were noticeably higher at age 65 than at slightly older or younger ages. "There was no reason rates should differ much between the ages of 63 and 65," Shrager said. He discussed this with his colleagues, who said they were seeing something similar. "We decided to explore this, and its broader implications, in a larger population," Shrager said in a Stanford news release.