Outliving cancer

Many people believe that aging is a road that leads to sickness like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Although this is the case in some instances, there is a new study that says the risk of developing several common cancers actually decreases with age and this research may also lead to earlier detection.

For many years researchers have been perplexed by the apparent decrease in risk of developing certain cancers with an increase of age. Information was recently published in Biophysical Reviews and Letters by Professor James P. Brody of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine that could answer some of these inquiries.

“Most cancers have a characteristic age at which they occur. For example, testicular cancers mostly occur from age 25-40 and bone sarcomas appear in the teenage years,” Brody said in a statement. “Beyond the characteristic age, the incidence of these cancers decreases. Several common cancers appear to have a characteristic age greater than the typical lifespan. Observations of these cancers have led to the belief that the incidence of these cancer increases without limit. However I believe that we just don’t see the decrease of the incidence for some common forms of cancer because people don’t live long enough to see it.”

Researchers believe one possible explanation is that some cancers originate early in life, possibly before birth. This is referred to as the developmental origin of disease hypothesis. If true, this proposes that a test could be developed that would determine whether a person might produce a specific form of cancer decades before they actually develop it.

In the long run this test would mean earlier diagnosis and prevention from many forms of cancer before ever getting to life threatening stages.

The researchers say three things are primary when it comes to cancer: how to treat patients to lengthen and improve their quality of life, trying to diagnose tumors earlier, and how tumors originate. This study gives insight into how cancers arise and it could eventually lead to an understanding of how to decrease the number of cancer cases.