Silent Threat: Why Young People with Advanced Biological Ages are at Higher Risk of Cancer

American scientists have revealed that having a biological age older than your actual age can increase the risk of cancer in people under 55 years old, according to research presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in California on April 9. This information was provided by a scientific team from Washington University School of Medicine, who analyzed data from nearly 150,000 people in the UK Biobank facility, estimating each person’s biological age using nine biomarkers in the blood, then comparing it with their actual age.

Biological age is the rate at which you physically age, while physical age is the number of years you live. The researchers found that real age always increases, but biological age can be reduced thanks to some medical measures or healthy habits. For example, some people’s normal age is 50, but their biological age is 45. Research finds that in people with advanced biological age, the risk of early onset lung cancer is 42% higher, the risk of early onset gastrointestinal cancer is 22% higher, and the risk of early onset cervical cancer is increased by 36%. Besides, people born after 1965 are at risk of aging 17% faster than those born in the previous decade.

“For a long time, both cancer and aging have been considered concerns for older people,” said Ruiyi Tian, a PhD student at Washington University School of Medicine and study co-author. “The discovery that these two problems are starting to attack young people is surprising.” According to Tian, this new research highlights that premature aging is increasingly common among people born in the next generation. This may be an important risk factor alongside environmental and lifestyle factors that contribute to cancer development in young people.

Scientists hope this new research will be a starting point for interventions to slow down the biological aging process and prevent cancer development in young people. They suggest “new pathways to cancer prevention,” combined with appropriate screening efforts for young people. “It is important for generations to be more health conscious and consider the impact of rapid aging,” said Tian. The research team will continue to work on identifying factors that promote premature aging and developing personalized cancer prevention strategies.