Trade-offs between cancer and other diseases: do they exist and influence longevity?
Abstract
Relationships between aging, disease risks, and longevity are not yet well understood.
For example, joint increases in cancer risk and total survival observed in many human
populations and some experimental aging studies may be linked to a trade-off between
cancer and aging as well as to the trade-off(s) between cancer and other diseases,
and their relative impact is not clear. While the former trade-off (between cancer
and aging) received broad attention in aging research, the latter one lacks respective
studies, although its understanding is important for developing optimal strategies
of increasing both longevity and healthy life span. In this paper, we explore the
possibility of trade-offs between risks of cancer and selected major disorders. First,
we review current literature suggesting that the trade-offs between cancer and other
diseases may exist and be linked to the differential intensity of apoptosis. Then
we select relevant disorders for the analysis (acute coronary heart disease [ACHD],
stroke, asthma, and Alzheimer disease [AD]) and calculate the risk of cancer among
individuals with each of these disorders, and vice versa, using the Framingham Study
(5209 individuals) and the National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS) (38,214 individuals)
data. We found a reduction in cancer risk among old (80+) men with stroke and in risk
of ACHD among men (50+) with cancer in the Framingham Study. We also found an increase
in ACHD and stroke among individuals with cancer, and a reduction in cancer risk among
women with AD in the NLTCS. The manifestation of trade-offs between risks of cancer
and other diseases thus depended on sex, age, and study population. We discuss factors
modulating the potential trade-offs between major disorders in populations, e.g.,
disease treatments. Further study is needed to clarify possible impact of such trade-offs
on longevity.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3295Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1089/rej.2009.0941Publication Info
Ukraintseva, Svetlana V; Arbeev, Konstantin G; Akushevich, Igor; Kulminski, Alexander;
Arbeeva, Liubov; Culminskaya, Irina; ... Yashin, Anatoli I (2010). Trade-offs between cancer and other diseases: do they exist and influence longevity?.
Rejuvenation Res, 13(4). pp. 387-396. 10.1089/rej.2009.0941. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3295.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Igor Akushevich
Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Konstantin Arbeev
Associate Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Konstantin G. Arbeev received the M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow State
University (branch in Ulyanovsk, Russia) in 1995 and the Ph.D. degree in Mathematics
and Physics (specialization in Theoretical Foundations of Mathematical Modeling, Numerical
Methods and Programming) from Ulyanovsk State University (Russia) in 1999. He was
a post-doctoral fellow in Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock
(Germany) before moving to Duke University in 2004 to work as a Resea
Irina Kulminskaya
Research Scientist, Senior
Alexander Kulminski
Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Svetlana Ukraintseva
Associate Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Dr. Ukraintseva studies causes of human aging and related decline in resilience, to
identify genetic and other factors responsible for the increase in mortality risk
with age eventually limiting longevity. She explores complex relationships, including
trade-offs, between physiological aging-changes and risks of major diseases (with
emphasis on Alzheimer’s and cancer), as well as survival, to find new genetic and
other targets for anti-aging interventions and disease prevention. S
Anatoli I. Yashin
Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
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