One of the most concerning aspects of cancer is that it can develop within your body for years before becoming evident. However, scientists have recently gained new knowledge about what makes us age and become susceptible to diseases, providing us with a new way to combat them, particularly cancer.
Researchers have discovered a now-visible change to your DNA that can predict cancer a decade or more ahead of time. This detectable change involves the shortening of telomeres in blood cells, which are microscopic structures at the ends of your DNA strands that function like countdown clocks, telling your body how old and vulnerable it is. It is crucial for telomeres to maintain their length in order to safeguard your genetic material from damage.
A Northwestern Medicine study, conducted in partnership with Harvard researchers, has found that as cancer begins, your telomeres shorten rapidly, then remain the same length for three or four years before the cancer becomes widespread enough to be revealed. Scientists have been attempting to understand how blood cell telomeres, which generally become shorter with age, alter in someone with cancer, but until now, the results of multiple tests have been confusing.
During the 13-year study, researchers examined changes in telomere length in 792 participants. In those 13 years, 135 people developed various cancers, such as skin, prostate, breast, and lung cancer, as well as leukemia. The telomeres in individuals who were developing cancer appeared 15 years older than those in people of the same age who were cancer-free.
For those with cancer, the shortening process stopped three or four years prior to a cancer diagnosis, as the disease hijacks the normal telomere-shortening process. According to Lifang Hou, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, understanding this pattern of telomere growth indicates that it may be a predictive biomarker for cancer.
With the correct testing, these processes could eventually be used to diagnose a wide variety of cancers.
Every time a cell divides, its telomeres become a little shorter. When you are older, your cells have divided many times and your telomeres have significantly shrunk. It is believed that the shortening of telomeres with age is a major reason that elderly people are more susceptible to cancer. But even though cancer can exploit short telomeres in healthy cells, within its own tumor cells, it has a mechanism to halt telomere shortening, allowing the cancer cells to expand and divide indefinitely.
Hou explains that this is likely the reason why previous studies have been so inconsistent. By discovering the inflection point at which rapid telomere shortening stabilizes, the study found that cancer has effectively hijacked the telomere shortening to proliferate within the body.
In an effort to prevent the onset of cancer, it is possible to protect your genetic material by encouraging your telomeres to remain longer. Dr. Isaac Eliaz suggests that consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly can help protect your genetic material.
Moreover, there are three powerful antioxidant nutrients that can prevent your telomeres from shortening. Firstly, vitamin C has been shown to slow the shortening of your telomeres by as much as 62% when levels available to your cells are raised. Additionally, numerous studies have demonstrated that obtaining adequate levels of vitamins B12 and B9 (also known as folate) can keep your DNA healthy and your telomeres longer.
