Understanding Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: The Role of Obesity

The global trend in the epidemiology of colorectal cancer (CRC) appears to be changing.1–3 Among 9 high-income countries (ie, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States), CRC among persons older than 50 years has been reported to be stable or declined by 1%–2.4% per year, whereas the incidence continues to increase by 0.8%–4% per year among those younger than 50 years for reasons that are not well understood. In the current issue of Gastroenterology, Li et al4 evaluated the association of early adulthood obesity with early-onset CRC in a large, population-based case–control study in Germany.