Why is colorectal cancer aggressive in younger patients? Boston researchers discover new clues - WCVB

Boston-based researchers announced Wednesday the discovery of new biological clues about why colorectal cancer can behave more aggressively in young patients. The findings are based on the analysis of 189 tumors from patients, including 54 who were diagnosed with the cancer before age 50. Researchers measured gene activity in hundreds of thousands of cells and found patterns linked to chemotherapy resistance. The team, which consisted of researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mass General Brigham, the Broad Institute and the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, published their work in "Nature Medicine." "Among tumors of the most common colorectal cancer subtype, younger patients’ tumors had a significantly higher proportion of connective and supporting cells relative to cancer cells," according to an announcement from the group.