A recent study identified distinct epigenetic characteristics of early-onset colorectal cancer in underrepresented populations, revealing new potential biomarkers and highlighting disparities in tumor biology compared with late-onset cases.

In the study, published in Clinical Epigenetics, researchers constructed high-resolution DNA methylation profiles of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) tumor tissues from Hispanic and Black patients. The findings revealed that methylation canyons—regions regulating gene activity—overlapped genes involved in cancer-related pathways. Key genes identified included MFAP2, linked to metabolic regulation and obesity protection, along with APOL3 and RNASEL, both associated with cancer susceptibility.

Using base-pair resolution profiling, the researchers observed distinct methylation patterns in minority patients with early-onset CRC compared with Caucasian patients with the disease from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).

"We show the epigenetic landscape of these [patients with early-onset] CRC differs from that of [patients with] late-onset colorectal cancer, and methylation canyons in [early-onset] CRC tumor tissue preferentially overlapped genes in cancer-related pathways," wrote lead study author Jason Sheng Li, of the Division of Computational Biomedicine at the University of California, Irvine, and his colleagues.

The study provided critical data for future research, particularly for the development of targeted therapies and early diagnostic tools.

The researchers emphasized the need for larger cohort studies to validate the findings and assess their clinical relevance.

The research was conducted by a team from Baylor College of Medicine and funded by institutional sources. No conflicts of interest were reported.