Chest CT organ aging clocks (MOSAIC-Age) linked to disease and mortality risk
In this abstract, a framework called MOSAIC-Age built eight organ-specific aging clocks from chest CT scans; higher CT-derived biological age gaps were associated with adverse health traits, chronic disease and higher mortality. Associations are not proof of cause. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
MOSAIC-Age comprises eight organ-specific aging clocks developed and validated on 9,971 chest CT scans from CT-RATE and MIDRC, then locked and applied to two independent prospective cohorts. [1]
In 35,293 participants of the National Lung Screening Trial and the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD study, higher CT-derived biological age gaps were broadly associated with adverse health characteristics, chronic disease burden and increased mortality risk. [1]
A greater number of markedly older-appearing organs and a faster pace of aging were each associated with higher mortality. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Abstract of a modeling study developing and validating CT-based aging clocks, applied to two prospective cohorts
- Population / context
- 9,971 chest CT scans used to develop and validate the clocks, and 35,293 participants in two independent prospective cohorts (National Lung Screening Trial; Genetic Epidemiology of COPD study).
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- August 31, 2026
Eight CT aging clocks trained on 9,971 scans
The authors describe biological aging as differing between individuals and organs, and say current biological age measures capture organ-specific differences incompletely. Because chest CT shows several thoracic organs, they developed MOSAIC-Age, a framework of eight organ-specific aging clocks. The clocks were developed and validated on 9,971 CT scans from CT-RATE and MIDRC, then locked and applied to two independent prospective cohorts.
Supporting source [1]
Age gaps and outcomes in 35,293 cohort participants
The locked clocks were applied to 35,293 participants in the National Lung Screening Trial and the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD study. Higher CT-derived biological age gaps, meaning organs that appeared older on CT than expected for chronological age, were broadly associated with adverse health characteristics, chronic disease burden and increased mortality risk. Several organs' aging was linked to multiple disease outcomes; in analyses including all eight organ-specific gaps, remaining associations were more organ specific. More markedly older-appearing organs and a faster pace of aging were each associated with higher mortality.
Supporting source [1]
Abstract-only scope of the MOSAIC-Age findings
The authors conclude that routine chest CT captures shared and organ-specific patterns of biological aging and describe CT-derived organ aging as a quantitative imaging biomarker for multi-organ health and long-term disease risk. This summary is based only on the abstract; the full text was not reviewed. The abstract does not report effect sizes, follow-up durations or how well the clocks predict outcomes, and the associations described do not show that organ aging causes disease or death.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. The abstract reports no effect sizes, follow-up durations or predictive performance, and the described associations do not establish causation.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Sato J, Salehjahromi M, Zafar A, Muneer A, Xu X, Zhu E, Vokes NI, Cascone T, Le X, Altan M, Gardner EE, Sheshadri A, Ostrin EJ, Salahudeen AA, Li T, Merad M, Chaudhuri AA, Gerber DE, Kay FU, Godoy MC, Carter BW, Shroff GS, Byers LA, Chung C, Jaffray D, Rice D, Liao Z, Chang JY, Vaporciyan AA, Gibbons DL, Wu CC, Heymach JV, Zhang J, Wu J. · europepmc.org · August 31, 2026