Faster Biological Aging May Help Explain Rising Cancer Rates Among Younger Adults: Study - Video

Younger generations may be ageing faster biologically, and this shift may be linked to a higher risk of cancers diagnosed at younger ages, according to research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Published in Nature Medicine, the study examined more than 154,000 adults in the UK Biobank and over 10,000 participants in the US All of Us Research Program. Researchers compared biological age with chronological age to assess biological ageing.

Unlike chronological age, which simply counts years, biological age reflects changes in body systems measured through blood markers, metabolism and protein patterns. Researchers found that people from more recent birth cohorts had older biological profiles than earlier generations at similar ages.

In the UK data, participants born between 1965 and 1974 showed 23% of a standard deviation greater systemic ageing than those born between 1950 and 1954. In the US data, those born between 1990 and 1999 showed 92% greater systemic ageing than people born between 1965 and 1969.

Greater systemic ageing was associated with an 8% higher risk of early-onset solid cancers, defined as cancers diagnosed before 55. Those with the most advanced ageing had a 15% higher risk than those with the least.

Links were strongest for lung, gastrointestinal and uterine cancers. Faster immune-system ageing was linked with early-onset lung cancer, while older-appearing fat tissue was associated with early-onset colorectal cancer.

However, the study does not prove accelerated ageing causes cancer. Lifestyle, environmental exposures, obesity, alcohol use, diet and other factors may affect both ageing and cancer risk.

Researchers say measuring biological ageing could eventually help identify younger people who may benefit from earlier prevention or screening. More research is needed to determine what is driving these generational changes and whether slowing biological ageing can reduce early-onset cancer risk.

REFERENCE: Ruiyi Tian, et al.; Biological aging and generational shifts in early-onset cancer risk. Nature Medicine, 2026; 32 (8): 2983 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04448-w