As time passes, our cells age. This can increase our risk of certain age-related diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. After the menopause, the cells of women and people with gynae organs start to age at an even faster rate. Today, research supported by The Eve Appeal was published which looked into this ageing process in cells. The research team discovered a way to accurately measure cell ageing in epithelial cells, those are the cells which line our organs, using a method called an ‘epigenetic clock’. Their clock (the WID-REA) was used on cervical screening and cheek swab samples, and could measure cellular age more accurately that previously used clocks.
Their clock found that post-menopausal women and people with gynae organs on combined HRT (with progesterone and oestrogen) had slower cell ageing than those not on HRT, which could explain why HRT has previously been linked to lower risk of some age-related diseases.
HRT is commonly used in post-menopausal people to help alleviate symptoms such as hot flushes, low mood, and bone aches. HRT can also help reduce the long-term health burden of the menopause by delaying decreases in bone density and reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
The research, led by Prof Martin Widschwendter at the University of Innsbruck and UCL, found that the longer post-menopausal women were using combined HRT, the slower their cells were ageing.
This benefit of slower cell ageing wasn’t seen in women with breast cancer who had been using combined HRT. We don’t yet understand why this is happening or how the two are linked, but the team believe it could help us get a measure of breast cancer risk, and effectiveness of HRT, on individual women and people with gynae organs in the future.
By measuring the cell ageing process, using epigenetic clocks, it is hoped that with future research, women will be able to make more informed decisions on use of combined HRT based on their response to combined HRT and their individual risk of breast cancer.
The research team assessed nearly 2,000 samples from cervical screening tests. The team looked at the difference in ‘cellular age’ of women who were pre-menopausal, post-menopausal, on or off HRT, and women with breast cancer, on and off HRT.
Epigenetic clocks work by looking at DNA methylation, which is part of our epigenome. Our epigenome can be thought of as the ‘software’ of our cells- it determines which DNA (the hardware) should be read and which instructions acted on. Previous research has shown that by looking at the changes on the epigenome, with an epigenomic clock, we can accurately estimate someone’s age. An accelerated ageing in our cells (when they age faster than our chronological age would predict) is linked to increased risk of and mortality from certain diseases, including cancer.
Cervical screening samples were used in this research as the cells are epithelial and hormone dependent, like breast cells- but are easier to access. Women and people with a cervix are also regularly invited to cervical screening tests every 3-5 years, dependent on where they are in the country.
The research team looked at whether a clock could be developed that would allow ageing of the cells to be monitored from cervical screening samples and whether this ageing could determine cancer risk. The WID-REA epigenetic clock now needs testing in a larger scale study.
You can find the full paper in Genome Biology, click here to read.
This research was part of the FORECEE programme, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, the European Research Council and The Eve Appeal.