A new study, led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, has revealed that common breast cancer treatments may accelerate the biological aging process in breast cancer survivors. The findings of this study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Women with a history of breast cancer participated in the study. The researchers collected blood samples from them for laboratory examination and found out which method of treatment of the disease was used.

The results showed that conventional breast cancer treatments—surgical removal of the tumor, radiation, and chemotherapy—were associated with higher levels of markers of cellular aging in the women's blood. After breast cancer therapy, the test subjects showed a greater number of damaged DNA, strong inflammation in the body, and accelerated cellular aging.

Also, the researchers found greater expression of genes associated with biological aging in all women, regardless of the type of therapy.

The researchers plan to continue the work to find out if the aging signals found can have a long-term effect on the biological age of the patients.

The researchers are trying to find out also whether the damage caused by the breast cancer therapy can be "remedied" by a healthy lifestyle.