Cancer and aging: rival demons?

Cancer and aging are intricately intertwined. Organisms with dividing cells are at substantial risk for developing cancer. Evolution "solved" the cancer problem by selecting for tumor-suppressive mechanisms, which protect these organisms from cancer—at least for the reproductively active portion of the life span. Beyond that portion of the life span, these mechanisms can drive pathologies associated with aging, including, ironically, cancer. For her lecture, Dr. Campisi will discuss how one complex tumor-suppressive mechanism termed cellular senescence is thought to drive a surprising number of age-associated diseases, and current strategies for maintaining tumor suppression while mitigating aging.