Early onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is colorectal cancer in patients under fifty years of age. Although CRC has been declining in older individuals due to screening and reduction in modifiable dietary and lifetime risk factors, EOCRC has been steadily increasing and becoming a global epidemic. In the United States, it is now the leading cause of cancer related deaths in men and the second in women under fifty years old. The causes and mechanisms as to why otherwise healthy young adults are vulnerable is poorly understood.

Dr. Marj Pena, Associate Professor in the Department, was awarded a two-year R21 grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct a project on “the Role of Early Life Exposure to Antibiotics on Risk of Early Onset Colorectal Cancer”. Using mouse models of EOCRC, her lab will determine if there are developmental windows in life when exposure to the two most commonly prescribed classes of pediatric antibiotics, the β-lactams and macrolides, increases susceptibility to EOCRC. Understanding the impact of antibiotics on the gut microbiota and the inflammatory environment of the distal colon can provide the basis for developing novel strategies to identify individuals at risk, interventions to minimize EOCRC, and make informed decisions on which antibiotics to prescribe and when.