The growing number of cancer diagnoses among adults under the age of 50 has become a major concern for researchers worldwide. A new study suggests that accelerated biological aging, the premature decline of the body’s cells and tissues, may be one of the key factors behind this troubling trend.
According to figures cited by The Independent, global cancer diagnoses in people younger than 50 increased by 24% between 1990 and 2019, with the upward trend continuing. Scientists have been working to understand why several forms of cancer are appearing more frequently in younger adults.
Published in Nature Medicine, the new study analyzed health data from 154,169 participants in the UK Biobank alongside nearly 10,000 individuals in the United States. The findings indicate that people whose bodies appear biologically older than their chronological age face a significantly higher risk of developing several cancers earlier in life, particularly lung, colorectal and uterine cancers.
Biological age reflects how the body is aging
Unlike chronological age, biological age measures how well the body is functioning rather than how many years a person has lived. It reflects the cumulative wear and tear affecting cells and tissues over time.
To estimate biological age, researchers analyzed blood samples and other health indicators using the PhenoAge algorithm, which combines nine common blood biomarkers associated with inflammation, glucose metabolism and immune system function. The model estimates whether an individual’s body is aging faster or slower than expected.
“Biological aging is not simply about the number of birthdays you’ve celebrated it reflects the cellular and molecular damage accumulating throughout the body,” said Dr. Yin Cao, Associate Professor of Surgery and Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.
Factors such as chronic inflammation, weakened immune function, unhealthy lifestyle habits and long term exposure to environmental pollutants may all contribute to accelerated biological aging.
Aging organs may influence cancer risk
The researchers also investigated aging at the organ level using advanced proteomic analyses. They found links between accelerated aging of the immune system and early-onset lung cancer, as well as between aging of adipose tissue and early-onset colorectal cancer.
According to study co-author Dr. David Scott, scientists still do not have a definitive explanation for the worldwide increase in early-onset cancers. However, the findings suggest that cancer development may be influenced not only by genetic changes within individual cells but also by broader biological changes occurring throughout the body.
Although additional studies are needed to confirm these results, researchers believe that understanding the role of accelerated biological aging could open new opportunities for cancer prevention, early detection and personalized risk assessment in younger adults.