Functionally enriched epigenetic clocks reveal tissue-specific discordant aging patterns in individuals with cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Aging is a key risk factor for many diseases, including cancer, and a better understanding of its underlying molecular mechanisms may help to prevent, delay, or treat age-related pathologies. Epigenetic alterations such as DNA methylation (DNAme) changes are a hallmark of aging and form the basis of so-called epigenetic clocks, yet their functional relevance and directionality in different organs during disease development is often unclear.

Methods

Here, we link cell-specific age-related DNAme changes with three key hallmarks of aging and cancer (senescence, promoter methylation in genes associated with stem cell fate, and dysregulated proliferation) to comprehensively dissect their association with current and future cancer development, carcinogen exposure or pre

SUBMITTER: Herzog CMS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11965555 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature