Younger generations are aging faster biologically, raising early cancer risks

12 hours ago

Early-onset cancer rates increased 24% in the last 30 years.
Younger generations show larger gaps between biological and chronological age.
Each standard deviation in age gap was linked to an 8% higher overall cancer risk.
Elevated risks were concentrated in lung, gastrointestinal, colorectal, and uterine cancers.
The study used data from UK Biobank and All of Us cohorts with rich health profiles.
PhenoAge, based on nine blood biomarkers, was the main biological age measure.
The age gap trend aligns with earlier onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes, and stroke.
Cancer risk associations remained after adjusting for genetic factors.
Organ-specific aging (e.g., immune, fat tissue) was tied to specific early-onset cancers.
Findings are observational, not causal, with limitations in demographic generalizability.

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