Aging and cancer: plasma antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in young and aged breast cancer patients.

The relationship between aging and cancer is complex because the intrication takes place at the cell, the organism and the environment levels. On the other hand, carcinogenesis is a multi-step process, and different mechanisms may be involved in each step. For example, oxidants and antioxidants may play a different role depending upon the phase considered. Tumors in older patients are generally described as slow growing. The difference in tumor aggressiveness between young and older patients is especially obvious in breast cancer patients. The age specificity of some breast risk factors suggests that breast cancer which has been diagnosed in an aged woman was induced late in her life. We address the question whether the characteristics of a senescent organism with regards to oxidant-antioxidant status could be causally related to the slow evolution of tumors in old patients.