Pre-cancerous blood cells may fuel disease risk by prematurely aging the bone marrow
Precancerous blood cells can actively reshape their surroundings, prematurely aging cells in the bone marrow to create conditions that favor their own growth and potentially increase the risk of blood cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX).
by Roberto Molar Candanosa, Jackson Laboratory
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The findings challenge long-held assumptions about aging and how precancerous cells expand, and point toward a future strategy for cancer interception: targeting the aging bone marrow environment to help slow or prevent blood cancers before they arise.
The study, which used mouse models and human samples, appears in Nature Cell Biology . It also shows that these aging cells can accumulate faster than normal, leading to far more of them than would be expected for a person's age.
"We usually think of these senescent or aging cells as something that just accumulates with chronological age," said study author Jennifer Trowbridge, JAX professor and Dattels Family Chair. "What we've shown here is the first example that clonal hematopoiesis can actually accelerate that process. It creates senescent cells in the bone marrow environment faster than you'd expect for someone's age."