Study
Epigenetic aging during adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer and modification by a resistance training intervention.
Chemotherapy accelerated DunedinPACE and GrimAge, while resistance training attenuated GrimAge acceleration in a randomized colon-cancer trial.
Summary Can resistance exercise protect against aging changes during cancer chemotherapy? Show / hide ↓
Researchers randomly assigned adults with stage II to III colon cancer to weight-based resistance training or usual care during chemotherapy. They measured epigenetic clocks, blood-based estimates of aging based on chemical tags on DNA, in 171 people at the start and 147 later. Over six months, the DunedinPACE measure increased by 0.70 standard deviations, a large change in this measure. The GrimAge measure increased by 0.29 standard deviations, equal to about 1.2 years on its original scale. GrimAge rose by 0.45 standard deviations in the usual-care group, but did not clearly rise in the resistance-training group.
What this means for you: Resistance training may reduce some chemotherapy-related changes in blood-based aging measures. This is not proof that it slows aging, improves survival, or provides the same benefit to healthy adults, so it should not by itself justify buying a program or supplement.
moderate evidenceBinder and colleagues analyzed blood DNA methylation from adults with stage II-III colon cancer enrolled in the randomized FORCE trial during adjuvant chemotherapy. The analysis included 171 participants at baseline and 147 with follow-up samples. DunedinPACE acceleration increased by 0.70 standard deviations per six months, with a 95% CI of 0.41 to 0.98. GrimAge acceleration increased by 0.29 standard deviations per six months, equivalent to about 1.2 years on the original scale. The usual-care group showed a significant GrimAge increase of 0.45 standard deviations per six months. The resistance-training group did not show a significant GrimAge increase. Baseline DunedinPACE acceleration was associated with greater adiposity and poorer physical function. Changes in clock acceleration were not strongly associated with changes in body composition or physical function. This is a human randomized intervention analysis with a clinically meaningful setting: cancer treatment. It does not show that resistance training slows aging in healthy adults or improves survival. The biological clock results may reflect treatment toxicity and recovery rather than general aging. The study supports exercise as a possible modifier of treatment-related biological stress, while leaving the relationship between clock changes and patient outcomes unresolved.
Epigenetic age acceleration increased during colon cancer treatment, with resistance training attenuating GrimAge acceleration. These intervention-responsive changes suggest DNAm-based aging measures may capture treatment-period physiologic changes not fully reflected by body composition or physical function changes.
This was a secondary analysis in colon-cancer patients, not a general longevity trial. The sample fell from 171 baseline participants to 147 at follow-up. The study did not show that clock changes predict survival or that resistance training changes lifespan.
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