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Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Think Tank

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among people under 50 in the United States, with rates of new diagnoses still climbing in this age group.

Credit: National Cancer Institute

In contrast to the dramatic decreased incidence rate of colorectal cancer (CRC) in older populations in the United States, incidence rates in younger adults are rapidly increasing and have more than doubled since the early 1990s. Early-onset (EO)-CRC is defined as colon and rectal cancers diagnosed in persons less than 50 years of age. Younger patients are often diagnosed at a later stage of the disease, when it is more challenging to treat.

On September 24-25, 2020, NCI and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) held virtual meeting to address the rise in early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC). During the think tank, experts discussed research priorities to improve the understanding of connections between environmental exposures and biological mechanisms that contribute to EO-CRC.

Documents from the Think Tank

Summaries of the Think Tank

A Workshop Report was published in Future Medicine and a summary of the meeting can be found in a Cancer Currents Blog.

DCB Contact for the Think Tank

For additional information about the meeting, please contact Phil Daschner (daschnep@mail.nih.gov)

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