US researchers link accelerated aging to early-onset cancer
Researchers in the United States at Washington University in St. Louis have identified a link between accelerated biological aging and a higher risk of early-onset cancer — diagnosed at age 55 or younger. As ScienceDaily reports, representatives of newer generations had higher biological age indicators on average than older generations at the same chronological age.
Data from the United Kingdom and the United States
The scientists analyzed data from more than 154,000 participants in the UK Biobank project and more than 10,000 participants in the US All of Us Research Program. Biological aging was assessed using clinical biomarkers, metabolic indicators, and data on blood protein levels associated with specific organs and body systems.
In the UK sample, participants born between 1965 and 1974 had a systemic aging score 0.23 standard deviations higher than people born between 1950 and 1954, after accounting for chronological age. In the US sample, participants born between 1990 and 1999 had this score 0.92 standard deviations higher than the group born between 1965 and 1969.
Association with cancer risk
A higher level of systemic biological aging was associated with an 8% increase in the risk of early-onset solid tumors. The researchers found the strongest associations for lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and uterine cancer.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Participants with the highest systemic aging scores had a 15% higher risk of early-onset solid cancers than the group with the lowest scores. This association remained after accounting for inherited genetic cancer risk and genetic susceptibility to accelerated aging.
Analysis of individual biological systems showed specific associations: accelerated aging of the immune system was associated with a higher risk of early-onset lung cancer, while aging of adipose tissue was associated with early-onset colorectal cancer. The study results were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The authors note that assessing accelerated aging may in the future help identify healthy younger people with an elevated cancer risk and more accurately determine the need for prevention or earlier screening.
