ASH 2022 | Epigenetic aging and neurocognitive function in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors

Long-term survivors of pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are at elevated risk for cardiopulmonary morbidity and cognitive impairment, which can ultimately result in accelerated aging and premature onset of dementia. At ASH, AnnaLynn Williams, PhD, of the Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, presents results of a study examining the association between biological aging and neurocognitive function in survivors of pediatric cancer. The study included 215 survivors of pediatric HL and 282 community controls from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort. Participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and provided a blood sample. Survivors of HL had significantly greater epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) compared to community controls. Among HL, EAA was associated with worse visual-motor processing speed, with those in the second and third tertile performing on average 0.42 and 0.55 standard deviations worse, respectively than HL survivors in the first tertile. Moreover, those in the second and third tertiles performed worse on short-term memory and verbal fluency than those in the first tertile. Overall, results demonstrated that survivors of pediatric HL experience significant EAA associated with several neurocognitive functions. As a result, EAA may be a useful biomarker to identify survivors at risk for accelerated cognitive aging and as a pre-clinical measure for interventions designed to improve cognitive function. This press briefing took place at the 64th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in New Orleans, LA.

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