ReviewNature reviews. Cancer2025
The evolution of cancer and ageing: a history of constraint.
Review in Nature reviews. Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Conditional Senescence and Longevity Mechanisms in Early-Branching Metazoans: Insights fromCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary genetics of ageing.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Sex-specific aging clocks from a large-scale human phenome reveal distinct aging transitions and circulating signatures.Nature aging · 2026Article
- Hallmarks of the ageing lung: 10 years later.The European respiratory journal · 2026Review
- Systematic identification of single transcription factor perturbations that drive cellular and tissue rejuvenation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Mechanistic redundancy and hierarchy of aging mechanisms: implications for strategies to extend healthspan and biomarker integration.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- The Evolutionary Misfit: Evolution, Epigenetics, and the Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases.Epigenomes · 2025Review
- Endogenous retroviruses in aging and cancer: from genomic defense to oncogenic activation.Mobile DNA · 2025Review
- Aging as the wound that fails to heal: a bioenergetic continuum of resolution failure.Biogerontology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ageing and cancer are ubiquitous in animals. They are fundamental and generally intrinsic to multicellular life. Nonetheless, ageing and cancer rates vary widely across species and understanding their evolution and interaction is of great biological interest. Although cancer arises from uncontrolled cell proliferation, ageing involves cell loss and degeneration, making them seemingly opposite yet interconnected processes. Because cancer can affect young individuals, natural selection will favour the evolution of cancer resistance over processes that maintain health in later life. As such, I propose that species evolve longer lifespans under the constraints imposed by the need to reduce cancer risk. Mechanisms that suppress cancer, such as telomere shortening and cellular senescence, may inadvertently promote ageing by limiting cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. Selection for tumour suppression may also impact stem cell ageing and contribute to the limited ability of adult tissues to regenerate. Overall, although cancer resistance is essential for the evolution of longevity, tumour suppression mechanisms may also contribute to ageing-related tissue degeneration and functional decline. Studying the trade-offs between the evolution of tumour suppression processes and their impact later in life may provide important insights into ageing processes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40859047What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.