Skip to main content
2026 ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
CME
CME
Invitation/Ticketed Event
Invitation/Ticketed Event
Invited Lectureship
Invited Lectureship
Award Recipient
Award Recipient
Live Streamed Session
Live Streamed Session
Nurses Contact Hours
Nurses Contact Hours
Self-Assessment
Self-Assessment
Live Q&A and Polling
Live Q&A and Polling
Social
Social
Industry
Industry

Session:: ePosters-Mon120-M7: Colon & Colorectal Cancer

EP902 - Obesity and Race as Predictors of Early-Onset Colon Cancer: Insights from a U.S. Colectomy Cohort

Monday, May 11, 2026
1:36 PM - 1:41 PM ET

    ePoster Presenter(s)

  • Sadhvika Ramji, MD (she/her/hers)

    General Surgery Resident
    Virtua Health
    Virtua Health, New Jersey
    Voorhees, NJ, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

    View ePoster

    • Senior Author(s)

  • VD

    Virgil DeMario, DO

    Surgical Resident
    Virtua New Jersey General Surgery
    Voorhees, New Jersey, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

    • Author(s)

  • BM

    Brendan K. McCracken, MD FACS

    Director of Surgical Education, Program Director of Surgery, Chief of General Surgey
    Virtua Health, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
    Camden, New Jersey, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • NA

    Nicholas J. Ahn, MD

    Assistant Professor
    Stony Brook University Hospital
    Stony Brook, New York, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • SY

    Suresh B. Yelika, MD

    Assistant Professor of Surgery
    Stony Brook University
    Selden, New York, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

Purpose/Background: The rising incidence of colon cancer in younger adults highlights the limitations of age-based screening. Since universal early screening is impractical, reliable predictors are needed to guide risk-based screening strategies and prepare surgeons for advanced disease in younger patients.

Methods/Interventions: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,136 patients from the North American

Association of Central Cancer Registry (NAACCR) who underwent elective colectomy for colon

adenocarcinoma at Virtua Health between 2013 and 2023.Variables included demographics,

BMI, tumor location, and stage. Early-onset disease was defined as diagnosis before age 50 per

USPSTF guidelines. Predictors were assessed with multivariable logistic regression.

Results/Outcomes: Of the 1,136 patients, 124 (11%) had early-onset colon cancer. Compared to older patients, on

basic statistics, they had higher BMI (31.2 vs. 28.3, p < 0.001) and were less often non-White

(20.6% vs. 79.4%, p = 0.0147), and more often presented with right-sided tumors (53.4% vs.

35.1%, p<0.01) and at early stages (Stage I-II: 61.3% vs. Stage III-IV: 34.9%, p<0.01). The

survival was higher in early-onset patients (84.1% vs. 73.0%, p = 0.04). On multivariable

analysis, obesity (OR 1.05 per unit BMI, p<0.001) and non-White race (OR 1.73, p=0.033)

independently predicted higher risk for early-onset colon cancer.

Conclusion/Discussion: In this U.S. surgical cohort, obesity and non-White race were significant predictors of early-onset

colon cancer. Each BMI point above 28 increased the odds of early-onset disease by 5%, and

non-White patients had 71% higher odds compared to White patients. Despite more advanced

disease at presentation, however, our data show that early-onset colon cancer patients achieved

better survival overall. These findings support earlier, risk-based screening in high-BMI and non-

White populations and emphasize the importance for colorectal surgeons to anticipate advanced

disease in younger patients to optimize outcomes in colorectal cancer.

Table 1. Logistic Regression Predicting Early-Onset Colon Cancer