Worms have been used in research to identify a batch of genes that not only prevent cancer but slow the aging process. The scientists say they are now looking to see if the genes have the same properties in humans.

Many of the genes in the worms are already known to have counterparts in humans, and the team at the University of California, San Francisco, are looking to better understand some of the processes that cause both aging and cancer. They are hoping that drugs that mimic the effects of these genes might help people both avoid cancer and also live longer.

Some of the genes the team has isolated cause cell proliferation, which makes a tumor grow and spread, and other genes initiate a process called apoptosis, used by the body to destroy faulty cells, including tumor cells.

Biologist Cynthia Kenyon said
"There is a widely held view that any mechanism that slows aging would probably stimulate tumor growth, but we found many genes that increase life span, but slow tumor growth. Humans have versions of many of these genes, so this work may lead to treatments that keep us youthful and cancer-free much longer than normal."

The genes that stimulated tumor growth also accelerated aging, Kenyon found. The genes that prevented tumor growth slowed down the aging process and extended life span in the worms.

Kenyon said the findings strengthen theories that the controls of life span and cancer have deep, common roots, and because the worms that were used for the research have many genes in common with humans there is hope that a solution will be found to both cancer prevention and slowing down the aging process.