Chemotherapy to treat breast cancer may accelerate biological aging

Chemotherapy helps many women survive breast cancer but new research suggests the treatment may also accelerate aging and raise the risk of an early death. Patients taking the most aggressive chemo drugs could lose more than 9 years of healthy life due to the aging, new modeling from Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center shows.And effects from the drug-related aging may not be visible until later in life, the school’s researchers said Tuesday. Chemotherapy, which destroys cancer cells, can also cause damage in normal tissues in the body. “This affects many aging systems, including increasing the number of senescent cells, which are damaged cells that have stopped dividing and are also resistant to cell death,” researcher Swarnavo Sarkar, from the Center’s Institute for Cancer and Aging Research, explained in a statement.Female breast cancer survivors make up the majority of U.S. cancer survivors. But chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells have other impacts, researchers say (Getty Images)“Senescent cells secrete biological molecules that cause several aging-related diseases through added tissue damage and inflammation.”The modeling relied on years of public data to estimate aging tied to chemotherapy in 400 million women, aged 30-79.The researchers also analyzed data on the relationship between chemotherapy and how much of the protein p16 is in the blood. The protein is a common sign of senescent cells. There is evidence that removing the protein could increase lifespan for breast cancer survivors by leading to fewer senescent cells, the university said. Though more research is needed to understand the accelerated aging in breast cancer patients. Researchers are also considering whether additional treatment and lifestyle changes could help slow or reverse this effect and improve survivors’ health. Possible recommendations for slowing aging include increased exercise and prescribing medications typically used for other purposes that show promise in slowing cancer. Getting more exercise and taking these drugs may cancel out the aging effects of chemotherapy, the researchers said, potentially helping millions of Americans. It’s not just chemotherapy that’s tied to accelerated aging in patients. The researchers are also looking into radiotherapy and hormonal treatments (Getty Images)Female breast cancer survivors make up the largest segment of 18.6 million cancer survivors in America, and that number is expected to grow. The tally of female breast cancer survivors could reach 5.3 million by January 2035, up 1 million from 2025, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in the U.S. There are projected to be an estimated 42,140 deaths and 382,640 new cases this year, the society says.Chemotherapy isn’t the only concern and other treatments for breast cancer patients appear to speed aging with similar effects, Sarkar said, including radiotherapy and immunotherapies. That’s where researchers will place their focus next.“We also plan to include information about survivor characteristics to help guide future conversations about individual outcomes,” she said.