University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Archives

2019

Young Investigator

Andrew Smitherman

Chapel Hill, NC

Executive Summary: Because of cancer and its treatment, many adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors age more quickly than the general population. Survivors experience decreased exercise capacity and develop chronic medical problems usually only seen in much older individuals. This leads to years of disability, impaired quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. Currently, we are unable to detect early aging until it manifests with physical or cognitive problems. We propose using blood tests to measure the functional age of cells and tissues to identify survivors with early evidence of treatment-related aging. First, by assessing the cellular aging blood tests before and after chemotherapy, we will confirm that chemotherapy increases cellular age in AYA cancer patients as has been reported in adults. Second, we will compare cellular age between AYA survivors and a group of healthy young adult comparators to determine if cellular age is indeed higher among survivors as compared to the general population. Finally, we will compare cellular age between survivors with decreased physical reserve (frailty) and robust survivors. We expect to observe an association between higher levels of cellular aging and functional impairment. By using novel markers of cellular aging, we anticipate identifying survivors at greatest risk for developing chronic medical problems, providing opportunities for early intervention and prevention. Additionally, we anticipate these blood tests will be used to measure the effectiveness of future interventions developed to prevent and limit early aging in survivors.
– Compare blood tests that measure cellular age before and after cancer treatment to determine if chemotherapy increases a patient’s cellular age beyond their chronological age
– Compare cellular age between young adult cancer survivors and health young adults without a cancer history
– Measure cellular age in survivors with decreased physical reserve (frailty) as compared to robust survivors to determine if these blood tests of cellular age reflect a state of physiological impairment