Biological aging caused by cancer treatments correlates with cognitive decline

Cancer treatments are believed to accelerate some aging process in the body. A new study showed that indicators of such biological aging correlated with the decline in cognitive function among women who had undergone breast cancer treatment several years earlier. Posted online early in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings underscore an effect similar to aging cancer treatments and further link it to cognitive decline.

Breast cancer treatments increase the risk of long-term and late-onset toxicity to patients, including persistent fatigue, pain, and cognitive dysfunction. Some treatments, including radiation and some chemotherapeutic drugs, damage the DNA of cancer cells, but they can also cause damage to normal cell DNA, which can contribute to accelerated biological aging.

Judith E. Carroll, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at the Center for the Psychoneuroimmunology of UCLA's cousins ​​and the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and her colleagues evaluated, were examined. a group of 94 women who had been treated for breast cancer three to six years earlier. Indicators of biological aging included high levels of DNA damage, reduced telomerase enzyme activity, and shorter telomere length in some blood cells. (Telomerase is an important enzyme for maintaining telomere length by repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that help maintain cell health and serve as a marker of cell age.)

The team found that women who had previously been treated for breast cancer and who had both greater DNA damage and lower telomerase activity had lower executive function scores. In addition, lower activity of telomerase was associated with lower attention and motor speed. Telomere length was not related to any of the neurocognitive domains.

"These findings are important because they provide additional information about what might happen after cancer treatment that impacts cognitive decline in some people." This information can inform future research and lead to new interventions to prevent these declines. cognitive, "said Dr. Carroll, who is also a member of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The work is new in identifying the key drivers of biological aging and linking them to cognitive function, which opens new avenues of research."