P53 and bcl-2 in colorectal cancer arising in patients under 40 years of age: distribution and prognostic relevance.

Abstract Young people (⩽40 years of age) with colorectal cancer (CRC) represent a distinct subgroup with more aggressive disease behaviour compared to older patients. We evaluate whether p53 and bcl-2 could be useful in identifying young patients at higher risk of tumour progression. We reviewed 1340 CRC patients with 58 patients ⩽40 years (4.2%). They had more frequent moderately or poorly differentiated mucinous adenocarcinomas (26% versus 12.3%, p  = 0.03); higher advanced stage at diagnosis; shorter 5-year overall survival (49.8% versus 71%; p  = 0.02); more frequent p53 positive (89.8% versus 72.6%, p p