IARC hosts meeting for the Causes of the Global Increase in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (ECCE) project

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) hosted a meeting of collaborators in the Causes of the Global Increase in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (ECCE) project on 18 May 2026. The goal of the ECCE project is to uncover unknown causes behind the global increase in incidence rates of early-onset colorectal cancer (i.e. in people younger than 50 years).

The meeting, held at IARC, was of researchers involved in Work Package 1 of ECCE and brought together collaborators from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA. They discussed project implementation, study strategy, study protocols, and the coordination of fieldwork activities across participating centres. Areas of focus included establishing common procedures for participant recruitment, biospecimen collection, and epidemiological data harmonization, as well as strengthening international collaboration to ensure the successful implementation of this large-scale global research initiative.

As part of ECCE, scientists will test the hypothesis that the rising trend in the incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer is driven by novel, previously unidentified exposures occurring during childhood or early adulthood, in particular specific bacteria that induce changes in DNA that may further accumulate throughout the lifespan. ECCE has been awarded a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council to study this hypothesis over the course of 6 years.

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