What studies on human longevity tell us about the risk for cancer in the oldest old: data and hypotheses on the genetics and immunology of centenarians.
Centenarians are people who escaped from major common diseases, including cancer, and reached the extreme limits of human life-span. The analysis of demographic data indicates that cancer incidence and mortality show a levelling off around the age of 85-90 years, and suggests that oldest old people and centenarians are protected from cancer onset and progression. In this paper, we review data of recent literature on the distribution in centenarians of germ-line polymorphisms, which are supposed to affect the individual susceptibility to cancer (p53, HRAS1, BRCA1, glutathione transferases, cytochrome oxidases, steroid-5 alpha-reductase enzyme type II). Moreover, we add new data on two p53 polymorphisms in a total of 1086 people of different age, including 307 centenarians. In addition, we put forth the hypothesis that the remodelling of the immune system occurring with age is capable of creating a hostile environment for the growth of cancer cells in these exceptional individuals. We conclude that future studies on centenarians regarding the germ-line variability of genes involved in the control of the immune response, including apoptosis (ApoJ), are likely to be of fundamental importance in understanding the basic mechanisms for cancer, aging and their complex relationship.
Bonafè
Massimiliano
M
Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Via San Giacomo 12, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Barbi
Cristiana
C
Storci
Gianluca
G
Salvioli
Stefano
S
Capri
Miriam
M
Olivieri
Fabiola
F
Valensin
Silvana
S
Monti
Daniela
D
Gonos
Efstathios S
ES
De Benedictis
Giovanna
G
Franceschi
Claudio
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D042944:Cholestenone 5 alpha-Reductase; D005787:Gene Frequency; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D016158:Genes, p53; D011905:Genes, ras; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000235:genetics; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009251:NADPH-Ferrihemoprotein Reductase / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors
D001053:Apolipoproteins; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D042944:Cholestenone 5 alpha-Reductase; D009251:NADPH-Ferrihemoprotein Reductase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase