A new blood-based test may change how we screen young adults for colorectal cancer. In the largest early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) study to date, researchers showed that a liquid biopsy powered by machine learning detected cancer in patients under 50 with striking accuracy — even among those as young as 20 to 35.
The international ENCODER study found the test identified EOCRC with over 95% accuracy, capturing nearly all stage I–III cancers and showing biomarker levels drop rapidly after surgery — a signal it could also track treatment response. With EOCRC now the leading cause of cancer-related death in young men and screening rates stubbornly low, the findings point to a noninvasive tool that could close a dangerous detection gap — and potentially bring high-risk young adults into screening earlier than colonoscopy ever has.