Tumors are increasing in the younger population groups, under 55 years of age, and the cause would also lie in premature aging at a biological and molecular level which is independent of chronological age. The hypothesis comes from a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (Aacr) conference underway in San Diego. Aging ‘young’ could therefore be the basis of the growth of early-onset neoplasms, and the cause of this process of premature biological aging, warns the president-elect of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom), Massimo Di Maio, must be sought to a large extent in incorrect lifestyles.
The Washington University School of Medicine study considered a sample of 150,000 people. In particular, those born from 1965 onwards run a 17% higher risk of suffering from the phenomenon of premature organic aging compared to those born between 1950-54. Cases of solid tumors of the lungs, gastrointestinal and uterus are increasing among those born after 1965. The researchers analyzed the levels of various biomarkers of aging (albumin, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, c-reactive protein, white blood cells, the mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells, glucose, lymphocyte proportion) in subjects between 37-55 years. Among those carrying biomarkers indicating premature aging, there was an increased risk of early lung cancer by 42%, intestinal or gastric cancer by 22% and uterine cancer by 36%. In the study, data from the British Biobank were used to verify whether accelerated aging was increasing: the team of researchers defined accelerated aging by using a combination of nine blood biomarkers to define biological age and examined what percentage of people had a biological age higher than their chronological age. Study co-author Ruiyi Tan reported that from 1990 to 2019, there was a 24% increase in early-onset cancers. A phenomenon considered very worrying, so much so that it has prompted a change in public health recommendations in the United States, where screening for the prevention of colon cancer is now recommended starting from the age of 45 instead of 50.
The American Cancer Society, recalls Di Maio, “has highlighted how, for example, in the USA, colon cancer, which was the fourth cause of death in young men and women in oncology, has now become the first in men and the second in women “. Compared to Italy, he specifies, “we don’t yet have official data but we are working on it. In clinical practice, however, we can say that many more oncological cases are observed among young people compared to the past”. The hypothesis of the new study presented to the Aacr, comments the oncologist, “is very interesting. Compared to tumors, in fact we know that damage to cells occurs over the years with alterations and mutations that are not well repaired by the immune system, until the cell acquires tumor characteristics now such damage accumulates more quickly, it is very plausible that there may be more early cases of tumor.” The underlying causes of this premature biological aging are not yet completely clear, however, Di Maio specifies, “the risk factors to which we are increasingly exposed seem to weigh heavily, from environmental risk factors such as pollution to incorrect lifestyles , such as poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, obesity and even to some extent psychological stress”.
It is “good that we talk about these studies – he warns – not to cause panic, but rather to stimulate virtuous behavior by pointing out that we are in part ‘masters’ of our tumor risk”. Because, “if there is a share of tumors that are not preventable, many tumors instead depend – concludes Di Maio – precisely on our lifestyle and our choices”.
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