ObjectiveThe incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) declines among subjects aged 50 years and above. An opposite trend appears among younger adults. In Europe, data on CRC incidence among younger adults are lacking. We therefore aimed to analyse European trends in CRC incidence and mortality in subjects younger than 50 years.DesignData on age-related CRC incidence and mortality between 1990 and 2016 were retrieved from national and regional cancer registries. Trends were analysed by Joinpoint regression and expressed as annual percent change.ResultsWe retrieved data on 143.7 million people aged 20–49 years from 20 European countries. Of them, 187 918 (0.13%) were diagnosed with CRC. On average, CRC incidence increased with 7.9% per year among subjects aged 20–29 years from 2004 to 2016. The increase in the age group of 30–39 years was 4.9% per year from 2005 to 2016, the increase in the age group of 40–49 years was 1.6% per year from 2004 to 2016. This increase started earliest in subjects aged 20–29 years, and 10–20 years later in those aged 30–39 and 40–49 years. This is consistent with an age-cohort phenomenon. Although in most European countries the CRC incidence had risen, some heterogeneity was found between countries. CRC mortality did not significantly change among the youngest adults, but decreased with 1.1%per year between 1990 and 2016 and 2.4% per year between 1990 and 2009 among those aged 30–39 years and 40–49 years, respectively.ConclusionCRC incidence rises among young adults in Europe. The cause for this trend needs to be elucidated. Clinicians should be aware of this trend. If the trend continues, screening guidelines may need to be reconsidered.

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Background Rare cancers here defined as those with an annual incidence rate less than 6/100,000 in Europe, pose challenges for diagnosis, treatments, and clinical decision-making. Information on rare cancers is scant. We updated the estimates of the burden of rare cancers in Europe, their time trends in incidence and survival, and provide information on centralization of treatments in seven European countries. Methods We analysed data on more than two million rare cancer diagnoses, provided by 83 cancer registries, to estimate European incidence and survival in 2000-2007 and the corresponding time trends during 1995-2007. Incidence rates were calculated as the number of new cases divided by the corresponding total person years in the population. Five-year relative survival (RS) was calculated by the Ederer-2 method. Seven registries

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