Cancer cases in people under 50 have been rising dramatically for decades. A study now shows one reason for this.
A US research team discovered a connection between a person's biological age and cancer. Because age is a main risk factor for many types of cancer, the same seems to be the case with biological age. People after 1965 are 17 percent more likely to experience accelerated aging than people born between 1950 and 1954. For every standard deviation by which aging increases, the risk of lung cancer increases by 42 percent. A connection has also been identified between accelerated aging and a higher risk of colon, stomach and lung cancer, as well as uterine cancer. The study includes medical records from 148,724 people. For the study, nine blood-based markers that correlate with Biological age were evaluated. Using an algorithm, the biological age of the people could be calculated. The research team expects a further increase in the incidence and mortality of cancer among younger people by 2030. It was presented at the American Association of Cancer Research's annual conference.