Exposure to certain bacteria that produce DNA-damaging substances in early childhood may lead to genetic changes in the colon that can eventually result in colorectal cancer many years later.

DNA damage from certain bacteria in early childhood may lead to colorectal cancer that appears later in adulthood.

Colorectal cancers diagnosed before age 50 are three to four times more likely to carry a specific DNA mutation pattern linked to colibactin-producing bacteria than cancers diagnosed after age 50, indicating that exposure to these bacteria earlier in life may be linked to the increase in early-onset colorectal cancer.

A bacterial toxin called colibactin can cause DNA damage in children, and this damage can be found as one of the earliest genetic changes in tumors that develop in the colon later in life.

DNA damage caused by the bacterial toxin colibactin is found in the earliest genetic changes in colorectal cancer, suggesting that exposure to this toxin happens early in life and helps create the initial mutations that lead to cancer.

Certain strains of E. coli that produce a toxin called colibactin are linked to a specific pattern of DNA damage found in colorectal tumors. This DNA damage pattern is more commonly found in tumors from people diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 55 compared to those diagnosed at age 59 or older.