Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
10:27
Testing Targeted Therapies in Cancer using Structural DNA Alteration Analysis and Patient-Derived Xenografts
Published on: July 25, 2020
Decoding the tumor-aging axis: from bench to clinical
Yuxin Wang1,2, Guitong Lv3, Xinyue Gao2
1School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, China.
Frontiers in Immunology
|July 25, 2026
Summary
Aging significantly increases cancer risk by disrupting cellular and tissue health. This review explores the bidirectional relationship between aging and cancer, highlighting mechanisms and potential interventions.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Oncology
- Immunology
Background:
- Population aging is a major global health challenge and a primary risk factor for cancer.
- Aging alters tissue homeostasis across multiple dimensions, creating a tumor-permissive environment.
- Cancer progression can accelerate organismal aging, forming a self-reinforcing cycle.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize evidence defining the tumor-aging axis.
- To explore the bidirectional relationship between aging and cancer.
- To discuss emerging strategies to interrupt this pathogenic cycle.
Main Methods:
- Review of mechanistic, clinical, and translational evidence.
- Analysis of the impact of aging on genomic instability, epigenetics, metabolism, and immunity.
- Examination of the feedback loop where cancer progression accelerates aging.
Main Results:
- Aging reshapes tissue homeostasis, promoting genomic instability, epigenetic alterations, and metabolic dysfunction.
- Senescence, immune suppression, and gut dysbiosis contribute to a pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.
- Cancer progression destabilizes stem cell niches and disrupts systemic homeostasis, amplifying aging phenotypes.
Conclusions:
- Aging and cancer are interconnected in a bidirectional, self-reinforcing network.
- Understanding the tumor-aging axis is crucial for developing novel therapeutic strategies.
- Interventions targeting this axis hold promise for combating age-related cancers.
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