Relationships Between Cancer And Aging

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A report from the LEF News concisely notes the ways in which cancer and aging are thought to be related: "Adult stem cells are responsible for tissue renewal and exhaustion of their replicative capacity may contribute to tissue aging. Loss of unlimited proliferative capacity in some of the adult stem cells and/or their progenitors may have involved the evolutionary trade-off: senescence prevents cancer but may promote aging. Embryonic stem cells exhibit unlimited self-renewal capacity due to the expression of telomerase. Although they possess some cancer cell characteristics, embryonic stem cells exhibit a remarkable resistance to genomic instability and malignant transformation. Understanding the tumor suppressive mechanisms employed by embryonic stem cells may contribute to the development of novel cancer treatments and safe cell-based therapies for age-related diseases."

Link: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=2339&Section=AGING