Advances in Understanding Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer

Since the 1990s, the incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (at <50 years of age) in the US has increased by more than 50%; similar increases have also been observed internationally. These increases are found particularly among individuals born during and after the 1960s, raising the possibility that the increased rates of early-onset colorectal cancer are attributable to changes in risk-factor patterns throughout successive generations. The reasons for these alarming epidemiologic patterns for early-onset colorectal cancer worldwide are only recently being investigated and major gaps in our knowledge remain. In the current issue of this journal, Arif and colleagues differentiated characteristics and outcomes of early-onset colorectal cancer in patients with the predisposing conditions of inflammatory bowel disease or hereditary genetic syndromes, compared with patients who have sporadic disease. Also, in this issue, Schumacher and colleagues investigated risk factors for early-onset colorectal adenocarcinoma in a nested case-control study among Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) health plan members. The research presented on characteristics and outcomes points to the importance of sporadic disease in the rise of early-onset colorectal cancer, while the research presented on risk factors points to the importance of obesity as a potential explanatory factor for this rise.See related articles by Arif et al., p. 1785 and by Schumacher et al., p. 1792.