The Tumor Suppression Theory of Aging

While they cannot explain aging as a whole, single cause theories of aging can be useful tools to frame discussion and investigation aimed at better understanding aging and its evolution. The theory presented here is aging viewed through the lens of cancer, two entwined processes. Aging is viewed as largely a consequence of tumor suppression mechanisms that evolved to keep cancer at a low enough incidence for successful selection and continuation of the species. Cancer and evolution are themselves in a dynamic, competing equilibrium. Evolution requires a certain minimal rate of spontaneous mutation, while cancer thrives on those mutations; the higher the rate, the higher the risk of cancer. An ever more complex arms race results, eventually resulting in the varied pace of mutation and aging, types of tumor suppression mechanisms, and incidence of cancer found across diverse species today. Single cause theories of aging remain important in aging research. One obvious reason for this is the need for simplification. Another reason is the necessity to at least break up the aging process into potentially treatable parts, even if no single treatment can be expected to do much. Somatic mutations have long been proposed as a cause of aging and genomic instability is one of the four primary hallmarks of aging. The tumor suppression theory of aging outlined here differs from previous theories in that clonal expansion and malignancy is proposed as the relevant consequence of so...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs