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Neoplastic disease through the human life span

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Abstract

Cancers are different diseases that start andevolve each in its own manner, andtrigger variable responses from the organismdepending upon the neoplastic process under wayand upon the physiopathology of the organism.The clinical incidence of the different cancersis spread through the human life span, withregional differences for each cancer; for manycancers the incidence is increasing at youngerages. More than half of the cancers becomeclinically manifest during the second half ofthe human life span and their frequencyincreases with age, but their natural historystarts way back at earlier ages. The datasuggest that the late manifestation is theresult of the accumulation of events throughtime rather than of aging. Interestingly, latein the human life span the incidence ofneoplastic disease declines. Is this due to thecohort of late survivals naturally resistant tothe development of neoplastic processes, or tothe characteristics of the last ‘window’ of thehuman life span? The evolution of neoplasticdisease is the result of pre- and postnatalaggressions suffered by the organism,individual susceptibility, and developmentalchanges that evolve continuously from thebeginning to the end of the human life span.The identification of the causes of theincidences of the different cancers through thehuman life span will help to understand bothneoplastic disease and aging of the organism.

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Macieira-Coelho, A. Neoplastic disease through the human life span. Biogerontology 2, 179–192 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011552822076

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