Objective To analyse the clinico-pathological characteristics of young patients with colorectal cancer. Methods From January 1980 to January 2000, among 1 030 patients with colorectal cancer admitted for surgical treatment, 143 (13.9%) patients were ＜35 years of age. The clinicopathological data of these young patients were reviewed and compared with those of patients in the other age groups. Results In this series of young patients, males were predominat. Most of them were with poorly differentiated (37.8%) and muco-cellular (29.6%) adenocarcinoma. The mast common gross morphology was infiltrating type (56.6%) and colloid carcinoma type (31.5%). The majority of patients (89.5%) were in Dukes stage B and stage C. Conclusion The prognosis of young patients with colorectal cancer surgically treated is worse, due to the fact that most of them are in late stage and their cancers are worse in differentiation. To increase the awareness of cancer in the young is important for early diagnosis and treatment and better prognosis.