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Cancer rates are rising in adults under 55, and new research suggests accelerated biological aging may be one piece of the puzzle. Scientists found that people from more recent generations tended to have bodies that appeared biologically older than those of earlier generations at the same chronological age. Greater biological age acceleration was linked to a higher risk of early onset cancers, with specific patterns seen for lung, gastrointestinal, uterine and colorectal cancers.

Younger generations may be biologically aging faster, and that hidden acceleration could be contributing to the rise in early onset cancer.

Cancer is strongly associated with age. The longer people live, the more opportunities their cells have to accumulate damage that can contribute to tumor growth. But cancer is increasingly being diagnosed in younger adults, and each newer generation appears to face a greater risk than the one before it.

That trend has prompted researchers to investigate a provocative possibility: Are younger generations accumulating biological damage more quickly, causing their bodies to age faster than expected?

A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis offers evidence that this may be happening. The team found signs that younger generations are aging more rapidly on a biological level than older generations did at comparable ages.

Scientists are still working to understand what is driving these changes. The question is being investigated through international efforts involving research members of Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, and Cancer Grand Challenges, a global initiative co-founded by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research U.K.

Importantly, the researchers also found that accelerated biological aging was associated with a greater risk of early-onset cancers among younger generations. In general, early-onset cancers are those diagnosed at age 55 or younger.