Chemotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, significantly improving relapse-free and survival rates for many cancers. However, these advances have come with a downside, and nowhere is this more evident than in childhood cancer. Despite the significant advances in the curability of most childhood cancers, up to 20% of patients die of comorbidity and secondary cancers by the age of 35 years.
Recent research shows that a plasma proteomic measure of protein abundance and expression can provide a" global" proteomic signature that accurately predicts chronologic age in the general population. It was shown that accelerated organ aging conferred a 20-50% higher mortality risk, and this was pronounced for those with accelerated cardiac and brain aging.
Previous studies have shown that p16INK4a, a robust biomarker of cell senescence measured in peripheral blood T cells, rises dramatically and likely irreversibly after adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. For anthracycline regimens, p16INK4a changes suggest 10 to 20 years of accelerated aging shortly after treatment. Additionally, in murine models, changes in P16INK4A are seen in all organs as mice age, but not all organs age at the same rate.
