# Why do we get melanoma later in life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-get-melanoma-later-in-life/643815 "2012-12-12T09:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-get-melanoma-later-in-life/643815/21 "2012-12-14T18:26:26Z")
Yes, but my impression is the age factor has been mostly thought of as time to have acquired more damage, not necessarily aging as a normal and selected for developmental process and that the focus is on the nature of the damage and how the damage leads to cancerous cells and less on how the multitudes of precancerous cells are kept in check for so long. Ah. The joy of google scholar! [Here we go.](http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/ImmunityRegulation/Aging%20immunity%20cancer.pdf) “Aging, immunity and cancer” Current Opinion in Immunology 2004, 16:151–156 > [@](#): > > Current analysis of the increase in cancer incidence that > accompanies aging primarily focuses on the multistep > process of tumorigenesis. Yet, progressive T- and B-cell > functional deficits develop with aging, a decline termed > immunosenescence [1,2,3], which may also play a role. … This review > will summarize recent work on the changes of the > immune system with aging, with a particular focus on > changes in T-cell subpopulations and their relevance to > cancer susceptibility and therapy. … > > … Having outlined the broad spectrum of immune system > changes accompanying aging, we return to the original > question of the role of these changes in cancer susceptibility. Studies of knockout mice have clearly established > a critical role for the immune system in controlling > spontaneous tumors. … Clearly much remains > unknown about the successful mechanisms of immune > surveillance in the aged. The prevalence of metastatic > cancer at autopsy peaks at 75–90 years and declines in > 95–99 year olds and centenarians [55]. Indeed, immune > changes with aging may result in more indolent tumor > growth and lower levels of metastases than in younger > individuals, as in breast and prostate cancer [56]. Perhaps > an increased understanding of the immune system changes > in these extreme elderly may provide new insights into > the complex relationship between immunity and cancer. … ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-get-melanoma-later-in-life/643815/22 "2012-12-14T20:07:46Z")
I love Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-get-melanoma-later-in-life/643815/23 "2012-12-14T20:23:15Z")
I heard an interesting interview with a cancer expert recently, though now of course I can’t remember who it was, where I heard it, or what show it was on. Anyway, the thrust of his point was that in the future, we may very well need to change how we think about cancer and start to see it as a more normal thing that inevitably pops up, so that as we get used bad eyes, bad hips, and wrinkles, we may also need to start getting used to just having a little bit of cancer as a regular thing. Supporting this is the fact that many tumors secrete signals that actively suppress tumors in other parts of the body, so that when the main tumor is removed, you sometimes find a bunch of other little tumors popping up around the body. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-get-melanoma-later-in-life/643815.md?page=1)