Cancer treatment speeds up the aging of the brain

How does a treatment for cancer affect our brains??

Researchers have now found that the same factors that help eradicate tumors in cancer treatment also accelerate aging processes in the body. This is especially true for the brain.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found in their current research that treatments for cancer help accelerate brain aging. The physicians published the results of their current study in the English-language journal "Cancer".

Cancer treatments accelerate certain aging processes

Chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer causes sufferers to report a loss of quality in their cognitive abilities. In the current study, the experts looked at women who had undergone breast cancer treatment in the past. In these women, markers for biological aging were found, which are associated with a decreased cognitive function. The results of the study suggest that cancer treatments accelerate certain aging processes. The authors of the study explain that treatment affects a person's long-term health. It not only leads to cognitive problems, but also to prolonged fatigue and physical pain.

Radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs affect DNA

Radiotherapy and some chemotherapeutic drugs destroy cancer. However, this can also damage the DNA of surrounding healthy cells and accelerate their aging processes. The study looked at 94 women who received breast cancer treatment within two years prior to the study. The experts analyzed markers for biological aging in these women, such as high DNA damage, reduced telomerase activity, and shortened telomeres in blood cells. The so-called telomerase activity can be an indicator of how well the body can maintain cell health, explain the scientists.

Results could lead to new interventions

When the participants showed increased DNA damage and low telomerase activity, they achieved inferior results in the tests for assessment of executive function. In addition, subjects with evidence of short telomerase activity showed a decrease in the rate of movement. These findings are important because they reveal more details on what can happen after cancer treatment, study author Dr. Judith Carroll of the University of California. The information may lead to new interventions to prevent these cognitive decline, adds the expert. (As)