Objective : to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer under the age of 50 treated at a public hospital in Brasilia over 5 years. Methods: we conducted a longitudinal, retrospective study, with 184 patients undergoing surgical procedures at the Asa Norte Regional Hospital (HRAN), including those who underwent only biopsy, between January 2013 and January 2018. We divided the patients into two groups: under the age of 50 (n=39) and age equal to or greater than 50 years (n=145). We compared the groups as to age, sex, symptoms, time between symptom onset and diagnosis, family and personal history, tumor location, histopathological characteristics, applied surgical management, staging and mortality. Results: the group of patients under the age of 50 had more individuals with stage III and IV (p=0.041), more frequent poorly differentiated tumors (10.25% versus 3.52%; p=0.153), and higher incidences of compromised surgical margins (p=0.368), angiolymphatic (p=0.07) and perineural (p=0.007) invasion, which denotes more advanced disease in this group of patients. Conclusions: the study showed the low effectiveness of population screening methods for colorectal cancer currently used in this population, given the high incidence of the disease and late diagnosis in both groups.