Overview
- Researchers linked California birth records (1982–2021) to the statewide cancer registry and compared 1,221 EOCRC cases with 61,050 matched controls in a population‑based nested case‑control study published in CANCER.
- After adjustment for multiple factors, men had about 34% higher odds of EOCRC than women and Hispanic individuals had about 43% higher odds than non‑Hispanic White people.
- Having a foreign‑born mother was associated with a roughly 15% lower EOCRC risk overall, with a stronger protective signal observed among males in subgroup analyses.
- Among females only, each 500‑gram increase in birthweight raised EOCRC odds by about 10% and having a father older than 35 at birth was linked with about 56% higher odds.
- Authors stress these are observational associations with important limitations—small case numbers in the youngest age group, about 70% missing parental education data, and possible unmeasured confounders such as maternal obesity—so replication and mechanistic work are needed before changing screening or clinical practice.