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. 2009 Jan-Feb;130(1-2):98-104.
doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2008.03.006. Epub 2008 Mar 25.

Trade-off between cancer and aging: what role do other diseases play? Evidence from experimental and human population studies

Anatoli I Yashin  1 , Svetlana V Ukraintseva, Igor V Akushevich, Konstantin G Arbeev, Alexander Kulminski, Lucy Akushevich
Affiliations

Trade-off between cancer and aging: what role do other diseases play? Evidence from experimental and human population studies

Anatoli I Yashin et al. Mech Ageing Dev. 2009 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

The potential gain in life expectancy which could result from the complete elimination of mortality from cancer in the U.S. would not exceed 3 years if one were to consider cancer independently of other causes of death. In this paper, we review evidence of trade-offs between cancer and aging as well as between cancer and other diseases, which, if taken into account, may substantially increase estimates of gain in life expectancy resulting from cancer eradication. We also used the Multiple Causes of Death (MCD) data to evaluate correlations among mortalities from cancer and other major disorders including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's diseases, and asthma. Our analyses revealed significant negative correlations between cancer and other diseases suggesting stronger population effects of cancer eradication. Possible mechanisms of the observed dependencies and emerging perspectives of using dependent competing risks models for evaluating the effects of reduction of mortality from cancer on life expectancy are discussed.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Time trends in proportions of death from selected diseases from 1979 to 2004. Because of the large numbers, all standard errors are close to zero.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Time trends in (negative) correlations between cancer and a number of other diseases between 1979 and 2004. Because of the large numbers, standard errors are close to zero.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Time trends in joint frequencies of death from cancer and selected diseases between 1979 and 2004. Because of the large numbers, standard errors are close to zero.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Examples of positive and negative correlations between frailties (Z) and between life spans (LS) in the bivariate lognormal frailty model with different frailty distributions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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