Scientists discovered that this ongoing inflammation can make the colon tissue stiffer, which might help cancer start and grow faster. Dr. Huang is a surgeon and professor who studies colon cancer and works in both surgery and biomedical engineering. This new study gives a clearer picture by showing that long-term inflammation might cause lasting damage to colon tissue. To find out, they studied colon tissue from people who had surgery to remove tumors. They looked at 19 samples from people with average-onset CRC and 14 from younger patients with early-onset CRC.