Young-onset colorectal cancer: A review
Joy Zhou, Sandy H. Fang
Abstract
Despite the general decrease in overall incidence of colorectal cancer since the early 1990s, the incidence of colorectal cancer in patients less than 50 years old has nearly doubled. A systematic review was performed using the PubMed database (2011-2020) and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2011-2021) to identify studies (published in English) evaluating epidemiologic, clinical, hereditary, and molecular features; as well as evaluation, management, and prognosis of young-onset colorectal cancer patients. Our search yielded a total of 3401 articles, after applying our inclusion criteria. We fully reviewed 94 full-length studies. This systematic review demonstrates the increasing incidence of young-onset colorectal cancer and highlights the importance of being hypervigilant for the differential diagnosis colorectal cancer when evaluating a young adult who presents with gastrointestinal symptoms.