🧬 Why does cancer mostly strike later in life? This review frames an elegant answer: evolution built layered anti-cancer "barriers" optimized to protect us through reproductive years—not indefinitely. 🛡️
With aging, those safeguards fray: tissues remodel, epigenetic "noise" rises, inflammation smolders, and immune surveillance softens—so clones that were once contained can progress. 🕰️🔥
A favorite reminder is 🐘 Peto's paradox: bigger, longer-lived species aren't overwhelmed by cancer, suggesting nature can evolve stronger defenses when fitness demands it.
Takeaway: late-life cancer risk isn't just "more mutations"—it's changing context + weakening constraints. ✅
