Editorial: Therapeutic Modulators of Cellular Senescence: Common Targets in Cancer And Aging.

Increasing evidence has been documented on the role of cellular senescence in cancer, aging and various age-related diseases. Potentially harmful properties of senescent tumour cells make their quantitative elimination a therapeutic priority as the risk that therapy-induced senescent cancer cells may escape cell cycle arrest and resume proliferation is consistent. At the same time, strategies aimed to remove senescent cells, or to delay their appearance, are attractive for the development of therapies in age-related diseases. Indeed, age related alteration in immune system may impair immune-mediated elimination of senescent cells. The purpose of this thematic issue is to describe our current understanding and hypothesis on the role of senescent cells in cancer and aging and to provide the rationale for senescence-based therapy using different approaches.