Cancer Survivors Show Accelerated Biological Aging Across Multiple Measures

This comprehensive study examined whether cancer survivors experience accelerated biological aging compared to cancer-free individuals, using data from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study. Researchers analyzed nine different aging measures in 5,501 participants, including 946 cancer survivors and 4,555 controls.

The study evaluated three categories of biological aging: epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation patterns (Horvath, Hannum, Levine, GrimAge, Zhang Score, and methylation-based pace of aging), clinical biomarker-based measures (KDM biological age and PhenoAge), and subjective age (how old people feel). Cancer survivors were followed for four years to assess mortality outcomes.

Results showed cancer survivors had significantly higher biological ages across multiple measures. Most notably, the GrimAge epigenetic clock demonstrated the strongest association with mortality risk in cancer survivors, with each standard deviation increase corresponding to an 80% higher risk of death over four years. PhenoAge and several other epigenetic clocks also showed significant associations with mortality in cancer survivors.

Interestingly, subjective age - how old people feel - was also elevated in cancer survivors and associated with cancer prevalence, suggesting psychological perceptions of aging may reflect underlying biological changes. The study found that 17.6% of cancer survivors had received chemotherapy, 35.2% surgery, and 16.6% radiotherapy.

These findings have important implications for cancer survivorship care. Biological aging measures, particularly epigenetic clocks like GrimAge, could potentially identify cancer survivors at highest risk for poor long-term outcomes, enabling more targeted interventions and monitoring strategies.