Faster biological aging linked to early-onset cancer

A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that people from more recent generations tend to have older biological profiles than earlier generations at the same chronological age. The findings were published in Nature Medicine.

Unlike chronological age, which measures the number of years a person has lived, biological age reflects changes in cells, organs, metabolism and other physiological systems. Researchers found that a greater gap between biological and chronological age was associated with a higher risk of early-onset cancer.

The study analyzed data from more than 154,000 young adults in the UK Biobank and over 10,000 participants in the US National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program.

Greater systemic biological aging among younger participants was associated with an 8% higher risk of early-onset solid cancers. Those showing the most advanced aging had a 15% higher risk compared with participants with the lowest levels. Strong associations were observed for lung, gastrointestinal and uterine cancers. Accelerated aging of fat tissue was also linked to early-onset colorectal cancer.

“If we can identify younger people with the highest cancer risk when they are still healthy, we can focus on prevention and early-detection strategies for the individuals who will benefit most from early interventions,” said Yin Cao, a molecular epidemiologist and associate professor at WashU Medicine.

Researchers are now investigating how environmental, lifestyle and societal changes may accelerate biological aging and increase susceptibility to disease. The long-term goal is to identify high-risk individuals earlier and develop more personalized cancer prevention and screening strategies.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that a chemical associated with the artificial sweetener sucralose was found to cause DNA damage in laboratory experiments, raising concerns over its potential health effects.