Revision History

Scientists have discovered that younger colorectal cancer patients have abnormally stiff colon tissue—even in non-cancerous areas—pointing to biomechanical forces as a previously overlooked driver of early-onset disease. Combined with landmark findings linking a childhood bacterial toxin called colibactin to cancer-initiating DNA mutations, the research offers the first concrete biological explanations for a crisis that has made colorectal cancer the leading cancer killer of Americans under 50.