(NewsNation) — A new study found that women diagnosed and treated for breast cancer may age faster than women who don’t have the disease.
The National Institutes of Health study examined women with breast cancer and their sisters, as part of a larger study attempting to measure environmental risk factors for the disease.
Researchers used “methylation clocks” to look at the tissue and cell health of participants to determine their biological age. Biological age is different from chronological age and can be used to help determine if someone is at risk for age-related diseases.
All the women with breast cancer showed faster aging rates than those without. The amount of aging depended on the type of treatment, with radiation therapy associated with aging the most and surgery showing the least impact on biological age.
Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer and approximately 13% of women will be diagnosed at some point in their life. As of 2020, nearly four million women in the U.S. were living with breast cancer.
Advances in treatments mean the disease has a high survival rate, with 90.8% of patients surviving at least five years after their diagnosis.
Researchers cautioned the study results shouldn’t discourage patients from getting treatment, including radiation therapy.
“Women faced with a breast cancer diagnosis, should discuss all possible treatment options with their doctors to determine the best course of treatment for them,” said Katie O’Brien, Ph.D., a scientist in the NIEHS Epidemiology Branch and a co-author of the paper.
