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by 738472527784
2897 days ago
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Do you have a source on the claim, that accumulated DNA damage is key? As far as I know, DNA damage happens all the time, is usually no threat at youth, and the real problem is rather the ever increasing inability to repair, or kill defective cells with age. (Getting a tan comes from the signaling of DNA damage, so cells are well prepared for this, to some extent) This is were senescence becomes very important. It's not the senescent cells themselves that become cancerous, but other dysfunctional cells which can flourish in a "fog" brought on by senescence signaling havoc and intracellular trash, obstructing internal and external kill commands. The weakening immune system is part of this too. There are other parts which become cancerous just by chance, like the endless recombinations in antibody creation will ultimately result in rogue lymphocytes. But usually cells can detect damage and repair it, kill themselves when unable to, or get killed when misbehaving. |
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Damage happens all the time, and unrepaired damage accumulated over the lifetime, hence aging.
You have an interesting point with prevalence of senescent cells can interfere with natural immune response to cancer.