Joint association of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality: A cohort study in the UK Biobank

Mar 12, 2024Preventive medicine

How biological aging and lifestyle together relate to cancer risk and death in UK adults

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Abstract

Older biological age is associated with increased risks of overall cancer and specific cancers such as lung, breast, and renal cancers (HRs: 1.12-2.25).

Aging biologically rather than chronologically may better reflect cancer risk.
Unhealthy lifestyle factors can exacerbate the risks associated with biological aging.
Individuals with a healthy lifestyle and older biological age had 8% to 60% reduced risks of cancer incidence.
Mortality risks for those with a healthy lifestyle and older biological age decreased by 20% to 63% for several cancers.
The findings suggest that biological aging could be a significant factor in cancer morbidity and mortality.

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BACKGROUND: Aging is a risk factor for cancer incidence and mortality. Biological aging can reflect the aging degree of the body better than chronological age and can be aggravated by unhealthy lifestyle factors. We aimed to assess the joint effect of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality.

METHODS: This study included a total of 281,889 participants aged 37 to 73 from the UK Biobank database. Biological age was derived from chronological age and 9 clinical blood indicators, and lifestyle score was constructed by body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and diet. Multivariate Cox hazard proportional regression model was used to analyze the independent and joint association of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality, respectively.

RESULTS: Over a median follow-up period of 12.3 years, we found that older biological age was associated with increased risks of overall cancer, digestive system cancers, lung, breast and renal cancers incidence and mortality (HRs: 1.12-2.25). In the joint analysis of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality, compared with unhealthy lifestyle and younger biological age, individuals with healthy lifestyle and older biological age had decreased risks of incidence (8% ∼ 60%) and mortality (20% ∼ 63%) for overall, esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancers.

CONCLUSIONS: Biological aging may be an important risk factor for cancer morbidity and mortality. A healthier lifestyle is more likely to mitigate the adverse effects of biological aging on overall cancer and some site-specific cancers.

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Joint association of biological aging and lifestyle with risks of cancer incidence and mortality: A cohort study in the UK Biobank

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