Health · Medical Research · 1 hr ago
Atlas of 189 colorectal tumors may clarify risks for younger patients
Kimmie Ng and her colleagues published a study examining biological differences in colorectal cancer across age groups.
Their atlas includes 189 tumors from patients in their 20s to 90s, making it the largest single-cell database of colorectal cancer tumors.
Early-onset colorectal cancer usually means cancer diagnosed before age 50.
Younger patients are often diagnosed later and have more aggressive tumors, and the youngest patients may have poorer survival despite more intensive treatment and better health at baseline.
The atlas and the technology used to build it may help researchers control for factors that complicated earlier studies.
Researchers hope this work will help explain why cancers in younger patients can be harder to treat.
Kimmie Ng and colleagues published a study in Nature Medicine that compares colorectal tumors across age groups.
The study’s atlas contains 189 tumors, making it the largest single-cell atlas of colorectal cancer tumors, according to STAT.
The research may help explain why colorectal cancer in younger people can be more aggressive and difficult to treat.
The study compared tumors from people in their 20s to their 90s, with Live Science describing the youngest participants as 29.
Colorectal cancer rates in people under 50 have risen since the mid-1990s, Live Science reported.
- Who
- Kimmie Ng and her colleagues conducted the study. It examined colorectal tumors from younger and older patients.
- What
- Researchers published an atlas of 189 colorectal tumors to investigate differences across age groups.
- When
- The study was published Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026.
- Where
- The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.
- Why
- Researchers aim to clarify biological differences that may help explain why early-onset colorectal cancer can be more aggressive and harder to treat.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Colorectal cancer rates in people under 50 have been rising, according to Live Science.
Kimmie Ng and colleagues published their study in Nature Medicine.
- Tumors in atlas
- 189
- Journal
- Nature Medicine
- Age range in study
- From the 20s to the 90s, according to STAT
- Young-onset definition
- Typically under age 50, according to STAT
- Cancer-rate trend
- Rising among people under 50 since the mid-1990s, according to Live Science
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What people are saying
Their survival, especially for the very youngest patients under the age of 35, may actually not be as good as somebody in their 40s or someone in their 60s, despite receiving more aggressive treatment and being at baseline healthier.
So we have always believed tumors may be biologically different.