Characteristics of Early-Onset vs Late-Onset Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Alexandra M. Zaborowski, Ahmed Abdile, Michel Adamina, Felix Aigner, Laura d’Allens, Caterina Allmer, Andrea Álvarez, Rocio Anula, Mihailo Andric, Sam Atallah, Simon Bach, Miklosh Bala, Marie Barussaud, Augustinas Bausys, Brendan Bebington, Andrew Beggs, Felipe Bellolio, Melissa-Rose Bennett, Anton Berdinskikh, Vicki Bevan, Sebastiano Biondo, Gabriele Bislenghi, Marc Bludau, Adam Boutall, Nelleke Brouwer, Carl Brown, Christiane Bruns, Daniel D. Buchanan, Pamela Buchwald, Jacobus W. A. Burger, Nikita Burlov, Michela Campanelli, Maylis Capdepont, Michele Carvello, Hwee-Hoon Chew, Dimitri Christoforidis, David Clark, Marta Climent, Kyle G. Cologne, Tomas Contreras, Roland Croner, Ian R. Daniels, Giovanni Dapri, Justin Davies, Paolo Delrio, Quentin Denost, Michael Deutsch, Andre Dias, André D’Hoore, Evgeniy Drozdov, Daniel Duek, Malcolm Dunlop, Adam Dziki, Aleksandra Edmundson, Sergey Efetov, Alaa El-Hussuna, Brodie Elliot, Sameh Emile, Eloy Espin, Martyn Evans, Seraina Faes, Omar Faiz, Fergal Fleming, Caterina Foppa, George Fowler, Matteo Frasson, Nuno Figueiredo, Tim Forgan, Frank Frizelle, Shamil Gadaev, Jose Gellona, Tamara Glyn, Jianping Gong, Barisic Goran, Emma Greenwood, Marianne G. Guren, Stephanie Guillon, Ida Gutlic, Dieter Hahnloser, Heather Hampel, Ann Hanly, Hirotoshi Hasegawa, Lene Hjerrild Iversen, Andrew Hill, James Hill, Jiri Hoch, Michael Hoffmeister, Roel Hompes, Luis Hurtado, Fabiano Iaquinandi, Ugne Imbrasaite, Rumana Islam, Mehrenah Dorna Jafari, Yukihide Kanemitsu, Aleksei Karachun, Ahmer A. Karimuddin, Deborah S. Keller, Justin Kelly, Rory Kennelly, Gleb Khrykov, Peter Kocian, Cherry Koh, Neils Kok, Katrina A. Knight, Joep Knol, Christos Kontovounisios, Hartwig Korner, Zoran Krivokapic, Irmgard Kronberger, Hidde Maarten Kroon, Marius Kryzauskas, Said Kural, Miranda Kusters, Zaher Lakkis, Timur Lankov, Dave Larson, György Lázár, Kai-Yin Lee, Suk Hwan Lee, Jérémie H. Lefèvre, Anna Lepisto, Christopher Lieu, Lynette Loi, Craig Lynch, Helene Maillou-Martinaud, Annalisa Maroli, Sean Martin, Anna Martling, Klaus E. Matzel, Julio Mayol, Frank McDermott, Guillaume Meurette, Monica Millan, Martin Mitteregger, Andrei Moiseenko, John R. T. Monson, Stefan Morarasu, Konosuke Moritani, Gabriela Möslein, Martino Munini, Caio Nahas, Sergio Nahas, Ionut Negoi, Anastasia Novikova, Misael Ocares, Koji Okabayashi, Alexandra Olkina, Luis Oñate-Ocaña, Jaime Otero, Cihan Ozen, Ugo Pace, Guilherme Pagin São Julião, Lidiia Panaiotti, Yves Panis, Demetris Papamichael, Jason Park, Swati Patel, Juan Carlos Patrón Uriburu, Miguel Pera, Rodrigo O. Perez, Alexei Petrov, Frank Pfeffer, P. Terry Phang, Tomas Poskus, Heather Pringle, David Proud, Ivana Raguz, Nuno Rama, Shahnawaz Rasheed, Manoj J. Raval, Daniela Rega, Christoph Reissfelder, Juan Carlos Reyes Meneses, Frederic Ris, Stefan Riss, Homero Rodriguez-Zentner, Campbell S. Roxburgh, Avanish Saklani, Andrea Jiménez Salido, Tarik Sammour, Deborah Saraste, Martin Schneider, Ryo Seishima, Aleksandar Sekulic, Toni Seppala, Kieran Sheahan, Rebecca Shine, Alexandra Shlomina, Guiseppe S. Sica, Tongplaew Singnomklao, Leandro Siragusa, Neil Smart, Alejandro Solis, Antonino Spinelli, Roxane D. Staiger, Michael J. Stamos, Scott Steele, Michael Sunderland, Ker-Kan Tan, Pieter J. Tanis, Paris Tekkis, Biniam Teklay, Sabrina Tengku, Marta Jiménez-Toscano, Petr Tsarkov, Matthias Turina, Alexis Ulrich, Bruna B. Vailati, Meike van Harten, Cornelis Verhoef, Satish Warrier, Steve Wexner, Hans de Wilt, Benjamin A. Weinberg, Cameron Wells, Albert Wolthuis, Evangelos Xynos, Nancy You, Alexander Zakharenko, Justino Zeballos, Des C. Winter
Journal: JAMA Surgery (2021)

The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (younger than 50 years) is rising globally, the reasons for which are unclear. It appears to represent a unique disease process with different clinical, pathological, and molecular characteristics compared with late-onset colorectal cancer. Data on oncological outcomes are limited, and sensitivity to conventional neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy regimens appear to be unknown. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available literature on early-onset colorectal cancer. Within the next decade, it is estimated that 1 in 10 colon cancers and 1 in 4 rectal cancers will be diagnosed in adults younger than 50 years. Potential risk factors include a Westernized diet, obesity, antibiotic usage, and alterations in the gut microbiome. Although genetic predisposition plays a role, most cases are sporadic. The full spectrum of germline and somatic sequence variations implicated remains unknown. Younger patients typically present with descending colonic or rectal cancer, advanced disease stage, and unfavorable histopathological features. Despite being more likely to receive neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, patients with early-onset disease demonstrate comparable oncological outcomes with their older counterparts. The clinicopathological features, underlying molecular profiles, and drivers of early-onset colorectal cancer differ from those of late-onset disease. Standardized, age-specific preventive, screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies are required to optimize outcomes.