Influence of Radiotherapy on the Dynamics of Aging in Prostate Cancer Patients

Previous studies have reported that cancer survivors develop age-related chronic conditions like frailty, sarcopenia, cardiac dysfunction, and cognitive impairment earlier and/or at a greater burden than similarly aged individuals never diagnosed with cancer or exposed to cancer therapies.

However, the knowledge about aging-associated consequences of cancer treatment and the processes that underlie differential responses to therapy is very limited. In 2018, a think tank established by the National Cancer Institute has defined various research needs to expand the evidence base for aging-related consequences of cancer treatment, such as studies to examine aging-related processes that include regularly performed assessments capturing factors associated with physical function or studies to elucidate pathways that lead to the emergence of aging phenotypes and to understand the relationships between biomarkers of aging and functional outcomes in cancer survivors. In addition, study inclusion of older adults with comorbidities and higher levels of frailty has been proposed to achieve an improved understanding of functional outcomes at any age.

Hypotheses / objectives We hypothesize that prostate cancer radiotherapy accelerates aging-related processes, furthermore, aging-related biomarkers may predict functional outcomes and represent early indicators of aging phenotypes. Primary objectives of the proposed study are the determination of the aging-related consequences of radiotherapy in prostate cancer patients and the evaluation of the relationship between biomarkers of aging and age-related clinical conditions.