Survivor breast cancer faces accelerated aging associated with tumors and treatment

Many people who have survived breast cancer (BC) experience accelerated aging, potentially because of cancer itself or the effects of various treatment methods.

Last study in He examined the relationship between phenotypical acceleration of age (PAA) and the features and treatment of BC.

Entry

Breast cancer is the most common cancer Among women around the world. However, early diagnosis and treatment significantly improve survival rates, with a five- and ten-year survival rate, 91% and 85%, respectively.

As a result, millions of women live as people who survived, including four million in the United States.

Despite the long -term life of people who survived BC often encounter a faster cognitive decline and physical weakness compared to women without cancer. The study uses a relatively new measure of aging – phenotypical acceleration of age (PAA) – to assess the biological aging of people who survived.

PAA is calculated by a combination of chronological age (CA) with C-reactive protein (CRP, inflammatory marker) and eight routine blood biomarkers, ensuring a profitable and available way of assessing aging and anticipating the risk of mortality.

Research participants

The study included 1264 BC patients and 429 cancer -free controls. BC patients were on average five years older than control and had a double mortality rate (8% vs 4%) in nine years of observation.

During diagnosis, 68% of patients were in stage I or II, while 17% had a disease III/IV. High level tumors were present in 35% of cases, with intermediate class tumors in 39%. Almost half (45%) of patients had positive in terms of hormonal receptors, but Her2-negative (HR+/HER2-) BC, while 13% had a Her2-positive BC, and 14% had a triple negative BC (TNBC).

Treatment was significantly different. The operation was the most common intervention, carried out in almost 90% of cases. Chemotherapy was used in 60% of patients, and 51% received radiotherapy, and 66% underwent hormone therapy.

17% of patients were given the targeted therapy, but only 3% received immunotherapy. During the observation period, 2% developed a second BC, and 20% experienced metastasis or recurrence.

Research results

BC patients showed higher PAA than checks. During the diagnosis, their phenotypical age (PA) exceeded their chronological age (CA) on average four years. This gap decreased to two years in one year after diagnosis and a year after ten years, without significant differences in two or five years.

The PAA degree varied depending on several factors. Patients diagnosed at the age of 65 or older were initially phenotypically younger than their CA, but over time they aged faster, exceeding their CA by 1.5 years in two, five and ten years.

People with stage III/IV BC showed five -year -old PAA during a diagnosis, which remained for ten years. High -quality tumors were associated with permanent accelerated aging, reaching the peak of a three -year difference after one year and remaining two years in the tenth year.

Cancer subtypes also affect aging patterns. Her2+ patients in the age faster than patients with HR+/HER2, with a PAA of two years in the first year and 1.5 years in the fifth year.

Patients from TNBC experienced an accelerated aging index of 3.5 years in the first year and two years in the second year. However, up to ten years this trend turned around, and their PA was two years lower than their CA.

Impact of treatment on aging

Different methods of treatment had a different impact on aging. It seemed that the operation had a protective effect and patients show phenotypical age seven years younger than their CA in the tenth year. Radiotherapy itself caused two years of reduction. When both were used together, the impact was similar to the influence itself.

Darkened chemotherapy and therapy did not significantly affect the PAA after administration. However, combinations that included chemotherapy led to acceleration of aging four years a year after diagnosis.

Patients who received hormone therapy – regardless of the same, or with chemotherapy and targeted therapy – were almost three years older than their CA in one and ten years.

Among the chemotherapy agents, alcoholic and anthracyclines initially increased PAA by two years in the first year. However, this effect turned over time, which led to two to 2.5-year reduction of PA at the age of five and ten.

On the other hand, antimetabolites, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM) and aromatase inhibitors (AIS) initially reduced PA by a year in the second year.

However, antimetabolites eventually accelerated the aging by seven years in ten years, while AIS added two years to CA at the same time. These discoveries suggest that hormone therapy can contribute to faster aging.

Accelerated aging mechanisms

Accelerated aging in people who survived BC may result from many factors. Cytotoxic chemotherapy can induce cellular aging, telomera shortening, chronic inflammationMitochondria dysfunction, genomic instability and epigenetic changes. The study indicates that these effects can last up to ten years after diagnosis.

Hormone therapy can also play a role by disrupting normal hormone adaptation, genomic stability and the function of mitochondria, leading to the exhaustion of stem cells and increased biological aging.

Conclusions

“This study provides evidence of accelerated aging among people who survived BC and identifies high -risk populations based on tumor characteristics and treatment.” In particular, this is the first study that was used by PAA based on biochemical markers, not epigenetic parameters in the people who survived.

However, the findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the prejudices of selection and survival. Patients with high -quality or aggressive tumors may have a higher PAA, but also a higher rate of recurrence or death, potentially distortion of results.

In addition, tumor characteristics primarily affect aging in diagnosis, not during observation.

Further research is necessary to examine how demographic and lifestyle factors interact with the results associated with aging in survivable BC, especially with modern treatment schemes. These observations can help improve long -term care and quality of life for people who survived.