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Evolutionary connections between aging and cancer

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Is aging a cause of cancer or cancer a cause of aging? Here the evolutionary connections between aging and cancer are debated, and it is shown that cancer is an unlikely evolutionary cause of aging.

Nowadays aging is explained in two completely opposite ways. The first (non-programmed aging paradigm) explains aging as something not determined by adaptive necessities but due to the progressive accumulation of the effects of many degenerative phenomena. The second (programmed aging paradigm) explains aging as an adaptive phenomenon and therefore genetically determined and regulated.

One of the main differences between the two interpretations is that programmed aging paradigm predicts the existence of specific genetically programmed mechanisms that determine aging, and indeed these mechanisms are absolutely necessary to admit the possible validity of this thesis. On the contrary, the non-programmed aging paradigm does...

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Correspondence to Giacinto Libertini .

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Libertini, G. (2019). Aging and Cancer. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_26-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Aging and Cancer
    Published:
    09 August 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_26-2

  2. Original

    Aging and Cancer
    Published:
    07 May 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_26-1