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Mass General Brigham researchers from the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, along with researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute, have uncovered biological clues to why colorectal cancer can behave more aggressively in younger people. Published in Nature Medicine, the study—the largest of its kind—lays a foundation for understanding age-associated differences in colorectal cancer and exploring future treatments.

In the United States, colorectal cancer diagnosis rates among people younger than 50 rose 2.9% per year from 2013 through 2022, according to the American Cancer Society. Its 2026 report identifies colorectal cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in this age group. Younger patients are also more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages, underscoring the need to better understand the biology of early-onset disease.

"The need to understand why colorectal cancer is affecting younger adults at increasing rates is urgent," said co-senior author Ana C. Anderson, a core faculty member of the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who co-directed the project.

"And that starts with understanding the biology of the disease across the entire lifespan. By looking beyond conventional age cutoffs, we've uncovered biological patterns that earlier studies may have missed and created a foundation for the field to investigate them further.

"While we're still at the beginning of understanding what these differences mean, our work gives researchers a new direction to pursue in tackling this urgent problem in human disease."

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