Women treated for breast cancer experience faster aging than cancer-free women
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Key takeaways:
- Radiation therapy appeared more strongly associated with biological aging than endocrine therapy or chemotherapy.
- The finding supports efforts to minimize radiation when possible, according to researchers.
Women diagnosed and treated for breast cancer experienced greater increases in biological aging than women who remained breast cancer-free, according to data published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Such changes in biological aging can be detected years after treatment and appear strongly associated with a history of radiation therapy, researchers wrote.
“We looked at three types of treatments used for breast cancer: endocrine therapy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy,” Jacob Kresovich, PhD, MPH, assistant member of the cancer epidemiology department at Moffitt Cancer Center, said in a press release. “We found a strong association between faster biological aging and those who received radiation therapy. We hope that these findings will contribute to the conversation of how to best treat and care for breast cancer survivors.”
Background and methodology
Breast cancer survivors are at an increased risk for age-related diseases, suggesting that such individuals may experience biological aging faster than they otherwise may have.
Researchers analyzed DNA methylation data of paired blood samples drawn a mean 7.7 years apart from 417 women in the prospective Sister Study cohort. They used these data to calculate three epigenetic metrics of biological aging.
Approximately half of the women sampled (n = 190) were diagnosed and treated for breast cancer between blood draws, whereas the others (n = 227) remained breast cancer-free. Women who developed breast cancer received their diagnosis an average of 3.5 years after the initial blood draw and 4 years before the second blood draw.
Results, next steps
According to the three epigenetic metrics of biological aging, women diagnosed with breast cancer exhibited higher biological aging at the second blood draw than women who remained cancer-free, as measured by PhenoAgeAccel (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.13; 95% CI, 0-0.26), GrimAgeAccel (SMD = 0.14; 95% CI, 0.03-0.25) and DunedinPACE (SMD = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.24-0.5).
Case-only analyses assessing associations with different breast cancer therapies showed radiation had the strongest positive association with biological aging (PhenoAgeAccel SMD = 0.39; 95% CI, 0.19-0.59; GrimAgeAccel SMD = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.1-0.47; DunedinPACE SMD = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.02-0.48).
“Radiation is a valuable treatment option for breast cancer, and we don’t yet know why it was most strongly associated with biological age,” Dale Sandler, PhD, chief of the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences epidemiology branch, said in a release. “This finding supports efforts to minimize radiation exposures when possible and to find ways to mitigate adverse health effects among the approximately 4 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.”
References:
- Kresovich JK, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023;doi:10.1093/jnci/djad117
- Moffitt Cancer Center. Breast cancer survivors experience faster biological aging compared to cancer-free women (press release). Available at: https://www.moffitt.org/newsroom/news-releases/breast-cancer-survivors-experience-faster-biological-aging-compared-to-cancer-free-women/. Published July 19, 2023. Accessed July 25, 2023.
- NIH. Women treated for breast cancer may age faster than cancer-free women (press release). Available at: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/women-treated-breast-cancer-may-age-faster-cancer-free-women. Published July 19, 2023. Accessed July 25, 2023.
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