Research Reveals Potential Causes Behind the Rise in Early-Onset Colon Cancer

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh revisits her conversation with Dr. Joel Gabre, a gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia who specializes in cancer care. They discuss the ongoing rise in colorectal cancer rates among younger individuals. Dr. Gabre lays out trends observed by the medical community in colorectal cancer rates, including the increasing likelihood by birth cohort for patients to develop this disease. He also talks about the main differences in colorectal cancer for patients from these different cohorts, most notably the location where cancers are likely to develop in the colon. Dr. Gabre also shares some of the leading hypotheses for why colon cancer rates are rising in younger people, and that clinicians and researchers are focused on searching for answers to improve prevention and treatment options. He gets into the importance of the western diet in developing these forms of cancer and shares details about his team’s recent findings regarding changes at the cellular level that could be contributing to the accelerated growth of these cancers. Finally, Dr. Gabre speaks to his personal experiences as a gastroenterologist who has seen first-hand the rise in colon cancer rates among his patients. He shares a story of what motivated him to begin researching the cellular mechanisms driving colorectal cancer in young people, with the hope of finding a solution. *** Dr. Joel Gabre is a gastroenterologist and GI cancer genetics specialist interested in studying diseases of the upper GI tract with particular focus on the esophagus. He completed his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University in biophysics, medical degree at the University of Maryland, internal medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati, and gastroenterology fellowship and post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was chief GI fellow. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases and as a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. For more information visit nyp.org/Advances  CHAPTERS   [00:00 – 5:26] Rising Rates of Colon Cancer  Dr. Joel Gabre introduces the emerging trends in patient demographics for colorectal cancer, and the differences in where the cancer tends to be located between early vs late onset.  [5:26 – 11:31] Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing to Profile Tumors Dr. Gabre shares the story of a young patient who presented with metastatic colorectal cancer, and how that experience inspired him to focus on studying colorectal cancer. Dr. Gabre discusses his research in profiling early-onset and late-onset tumors using single-cell RNA sequencing.  [11:31 – 14:14] Inferring the Data Dr. Gabre talks about the findings from the study, which showed an increase in inflammatory markers in the early-onset samples and led to a new hypothesis.  [14:14 – 16:28] Developing Biomarkers Dr. Gabre discusses how identifying a biomarker could help identify which patients may need to be screened for colorectal cancer earlier in life.  [16:28 – 17:14] Credits