Samuel Hume, Fellow at The Foulkes Foundation and pursuing PhD in the University of Oxford’s Department of Oncology, posted on X:
“The thymus shrinks as we get older, so is it actually doing anything useful?
This study measured thymic health based on CT scans, and found:
- Better thymic health is associated with longer survival.
- Better thymic health is associated with less lung cancer.
- Better thymic health is associated with less cardiovascular disease.
What drives that?
More diverse T-cells, which means better immune surveillance, less immunosenescence, and less chronic inflammation.
This is not the first paper to show this – this one is a classic.
People who’ve had thymus-removal surgery (vs. people who’ve had similar surgeries, but kept the thymus) have worse survival, and higher rates of cancer and autoimmunity.
The big question is: how do we rejuvenate the aging thymus?”
Title: Thymic Health Consequences in Adults
Authors: Simon Bernatz, Vasco Prudente, Suraj Pai, Asbjørn K. Attermann, Yumeng Cao, Jiachen Chen, Asya Lyass, Borek Foldyna, Leonard Nürnberg, Keno Bressem, Christopher Abbosh, Charles Swanton, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Michael T. Lu, Joanne M. Murabito, Kathryn L. Lunetta, Nicolai J. Birkbak and Hugo J. W. L. Aerts
Title: Health Consequences of Thymus Removal in Adults
Authors: Kameron A. Kooshesh, Brody H. Foy, David B. Sykes, Karin Gustafsson, David T. Scadden
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