While the risk of developing cancer increases with age uil the ages of 60 and 70, surprisingly, this risk drops as we approach our 80s.
According to RCO News Agency, Aging has two opposing trends in cancer risk. First, this risk increases in our 60s and 70s, because decades of genetic mutations have accumulated in our bodies. But after about 80 years of human life, this risk decreases again, and now a new study can explain the main reason.
According to SA, an iernational team of scieists behind the study analyzed lung cancer in mice and tracked the behavior of alveolar stem cells type 2 (AT2). These cells are very importa for lung regeneration and are also the starting poi for many lung cancers.
What emerged were higher levels of a protein called NUPR1 in the older mice. This protein causes cells to act as if they are deficie in iron, which in turn limits their rate of regeneration and limits the growth of healthy and cancerous tumors.
Cancer biologist Xueqian Zhuang of the MSK Cancer Ceer in New York says: “Aging cells actually have more iron, but for reasons we don’t fully understand yet, they function like when they don’t have enough iron and are iron deficie.” .
He added: Aging cells lose their capacity for regeneration and thus for the growth that occurs in cancer.
It was found that similar processes occur in human cells. NUPR1 protein leads to a decrease in the amou of iron in the cells. When NUPR1 was artificially reduced or iron was artificially increased, cell growth capabilities were re-enhanced.
This work poteially gives researchers a way to explore treatmes that target iron metabolism, particularly in older adults. For example, it may be able to restore lung capacity in people experiencing the long-term effects of Covid-19.
The findings also have implications for cancer treatme based on a type of iron-induced cell death called ferroptosis. The researchers found that this cell death was less common in older cells due to functional iron deficiency.
This may also make them more resista to the ferroptose-based cancer treatmes that are being developed. So the sooner you can try ferroptosis treatme, the better it is likely to work.
Cancer biologist Tuomas Tammela from MSK says: “What our cancer preveion data shows is that eves that occur when you’re young are probably much more dangerous than eves that occur later.” So preveing young people from smoking, tanning, or other methods of exposure to overtly carcinogenic radiation is probably more importa than we thought.
There is much more to be learned here about the effects of NUPR1 and how it relates to stem cell function, both in terms of healthy regeneration and cancerous growth, but these are importa findings for fighting cancer at every stage of life.
As always with cancer treatmes, there are many factors to consider. For example, the type and stage of the cancer, other medical conditions that may be involved, and, as this new study shows, the person’s age. The more we can personalize these treatmes, the more effective they can be.
“There are still many unknowns about how aging actually changes the biology of cancer,” says Zhuang.
This research was published in the journal Nature.
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