Increase in early cancers: accelerated aging to blame?

And if the increase in cancer cases among those under 50 for several years could be due to premature aging of the body? This is suggested by a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, which was held from April 5 to 10 in the United States.

Younger generations may be aging faster than expected

Medical researchers at Washington University in Saint-Louis started from the hypothesis that the increase in biological age – which reflects accelerated aging – can contribute to the development of early cancers, i.e. say diagnosed in adults under 55 years of age. As a reminder, biological age refers to the state of a person’s physiological functions, while chronological age only indicates how long they have been alive. Those whose biological age is greater than their candle number are considered to have accelerated aging.

“Biological age can be influenced by factors such as diet, physical activity, mental health and environmental stressors, specify the scientists in a communicated. Evidence suggests that younger generations may be aging faster than expected, likely due to exposure to various risk factors and environmental insults.

It remains that the impact of accelerated aging on the early development of cancer “remains uncertain”. To find out, researchers examined the blood biomarkers (glucose, creatinine, white blood cells, etc.) of nearly 150,000 British people, in order to calculate each person’s biological age. They first observed that people born after 1965 had a 17% higher probability of accelerated aging than those born before 1954.

Accelerated aging associated with an increased risk of early cancers

Concerning the association between increased biological age and risk of early cancer, the team then noted that “each standard deviation increase in accelerated aging was associated with an increase in the risk of early lung (+42%), uterine (+36%) and gastrointestinal (+22%) cancers”. Although accelerated aging did not have a significant impact on the risk of late-onset lung cancer (diagnosed after age 55), it was nevertheless associated with an increased risk of respectively 16% and 23% of gastrointestinal cancers. late intestinal and uterine.

Conclusion, “Interventions aimed at slowing biological aging could be a new avenue for cancer prevention, and screening efforts tailored to young people with signs of accelerated aging could help detect cancers at an early stage.”