Cellular senescence is a stress response that protects against cancer by stopping cell division, but senescent cells can also secrete factors that attract the immune system and cause further cell damage.

“sort of the double-edged sword and how cellular senescence on the one hand, it's a function of a stress response that occurs to protect you from cancer and so the cell stops dividing. You know, and then, the senescent cells of course are then making all sorts of various different secreted proteins like you mentioned and that can have...sometimes, it can have good effects if you're talking about wound healing and things but also it can attract the immune system and cause you know, more...basically activate the immune system to make more of these hypochlorite hydrogen peroxide warfare things going on in the cell which can also damage the cell even more.”