A tumor transcriptomic atlas across eight decades of life reveals distinct features of early-onset colorectal cancer

Synopsis

Nature Medicine, Published online: 04 November 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04771-2 The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer is rising, but whether it is biologically distinct from average-onset disease is unclear. Mapping of the transcriptome of colorectal tumors across the age continuum shows that tumors in younger adults contain more stromal cells and have increased expression of long non-coding RNAs and genes associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

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