...
By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Cancer among young people is on the rise, and it may be partly due to millennials and Gen Z aging faster at a biological level than older generations.
Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that faster aging was linked to a higher risk of so-called early-onset cancers, which are diagnosed at age 55 or younger.
A separate study previously found that early-onset cancers are rising globally, with incidence among people under 50 increasing by 79.1 percent between 1990 and 2019, while deaths rose by 27.7 percent.
Read More on Health
Dr. Andy Gaya, a consultant oncologist who was not involved in the research, told Newsweek that the greater the gap between a person’s biological age (how old their body appears) and their chronological age (how many years they’ve lived), the higher their cancer risk.
...
He said: “Think of biological age as how worn out your body is on the inside, not your actual age.
“Your biological age is not fixed and increasing evidence based on longevity research shows it can be manipulated.”
Millennials and Gen Z Show Faster Biological Aging
The researchers analyzed health data from more than 154,000 adults in the U.K. Biobank and over 10,000 participants in the U.S.-based All of Us Research Program.
They found that people in more recent birth groups had larger gaps between biological and chronological age than older generations.
For example, individuals in the U.K. born between 1965 and 1974 showed higher levels of biological aging than those born between 1950 and 1954 at the same age. A similar pattern was seen in the U.S., where those born between 1990 and 1999 showed higher biological aging compared with those born between 1965 and 1969.
This increase in biological aging was linked to an 8 percent higher risk of early-onset solid cancers, particularly lung, gastrointestinal and uterine cancers.
People with the highest levels of biological aging had a 15 percent higher risk compared with those aging more slowly, even after accounting for genetic risk.
Aging in Specific Organs Tied to Cancer Risk
The study also found that faster aging in certain parts of the body may be linked to specific cancers.
- An immune system that appears older than expected was associated with early-onset lung cancer.
- Older-appearing fat tissue was linked to early-onset colorectal cancer.
These findings suggest that looking at how different organs age could help identify which cancers people may be more at risk for.
What’s Driving the Trend?
The study identifies obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity and circadian disruption as key drivers of accelerated aging across generations.
Gaya, who works at the Cromwell Hospital in London specializing in gastrointestinal cancers, shared several anti-aging interventions:
- Exercise — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Gaya said: “Exercise reduces inflammatory markers, a key driver of cellular aging, by up to 35 percent.”
- Sleep — Gaya said: “Sleeping fewer than six hours consistently accelerates biological aging at the chromosomal level, shortening telomeres which are the protective caps on your DNA.”
- Diet — He recommends a Mediterranean-style diet rich in vegetables, legumes, oily fish and olive oil, which has been shown in multiple trials to reduce biological age by one to three years within months.
- Cutting ultra-processed foods
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Avoiding smoking
“These are not lifestyle suggestions,” he said. “They are cancer prevention strategies too. The good news is that you have more control over it than you might think.”
Toward Earlier Detection and Prevention
Researchers say measuring biological aging could help identify younger people at higher risk of cancer before symptoms appear.
“Our ultimate goal is to decode how modern environments become biologically embedded to drive cancer risk, transforming prevention from broad recommendations to personalized interventions,” said Yin Cao, a molecular epidemiologist and associate professor at WashU Medicine, in a statement.
“This brings us closer to identifying risk earlier and developing prevention strategies that are tailored to an individual’s biology.”
The work is part of Cancer Grand Challenges, a global research initiative supported by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research U.K.
“Right now, we don’t have a definitive answer to what’s driving the rise of early-onset cancers around the world, but studies like this are helping us piece together the bigger picture,” said David Scott, PhD, director of Cancer Grand Challenges, in a statement.
“Research on this scale is possible through Cancer Grand Challenges, which brings together scientists from different fields around the world to tackle these complex questions together.”
Researchers now aim to better understand how environmental, lifestyle and societal changes may speed up biological aging and increase cancer risk, with the goal of preventing disease before it starts
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman and Emma Lee-Sang.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines