Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2023; 29(8): 1289-1303
Published online Feb 28, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i8.1289
Early-onset colorectal cancer: A review of current knowledge
Margarida R Saraiva, Isadora Rosa, Isabel Claro
Margarida R Saraiva, Isadora Rosa, Isabel Claro, Department of Gastroenterology, Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil, Lisboa 1099-023, Portugal
Author contributions: Saraiva MR and Rosa I reviewed the literature and wrote the manuscript; Claro I critically reviewed the manuscript; and all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Isadora Rosa, PhD, Medical Assistant, Department of Gastroenterology, Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil, Rua Prof Lima Bastos, Lisboa 1099-023, Portugal. isarosa@ipolisboa.min-saude.pt
Received: November 19, 2022
Peer-review started: November 19, 2022
First decision: December 10, 2022
Revised: December 18, 2022
Accepted: February 15, 2023
Article in press: February 158, 2023
Published online: February 28, 2023
Processing time: 100 Days and 17.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) has been surprisingly increasing worldwide and it has become a public health issue. Its clinical, genetic, molecular and histological characteristics suggest that this may be a distinct entity, with a more aggressive behaviour. However, both genetic and environmental risk factors seem to contribute to this observed epidemiological shift in CRC incidence. More evidence is needed in order to clarify EO-CRC aetiology and to develop screening and management strategies.