ABSTRACT
The contemporary increase of human lifespan observed in developed countries is principally based on the accessibility of advanced medical care. However, this success is accompanied by the increasing burden of cancer incidence. Accumulation of aging-related changes is typically accelerated in individuals over 50. This is also associated with, but not limited to, decreased gene repair activity. The age-related reduction of gene repair capacity is a leading cause of commonly occurring accumulation of mutations and thus contributes to multiple deleterious biological and molecular events resulting in higher cancer incidence in the elderly. From a more general point of view, aging represents the accumulation of changes of physical, psychological, and social nature in a human being over time. All these processes seem to be associated with a reduced reproductive ability and spreading of mutated genes. As such, their sequence might argue for the existence of the developmentally based regulation of an orchestrated “decline” program. Recent health services are mostly designed to efficiently cure acute conditions or symptoms. However, if we wish to make people live healthier as well as longer lives, we need to make sure that we are stretching human life in the middle and not just prolonging survival at the end. Aging presents both challenges and opportunities. Research in a range of fields contributing to aging and health across the life course is highly required because understanding of mechanisms allows rapid translation into individual clinical practice as well as in population-based health interventions. Indeed, the timing of such population-based intervention would precede the onset of age-related diseases including cancer by years or decades. Societies that adapt to this changing demographic and invest in aging-oriented research and related issues will have a competitive advantage over those that do not.
