Telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes is associated with risk of colorectal cancer in chinese population.
Author: Qin Q1, Sun J2, Yin J1, Liu L1, Chen J3, Zhang Y3, Li T1, Shi Y1, Wei S1, Nie S1.
Affiliation:
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Ministry of Education Key Lab of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. 2The Chengdu Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. 3Department of Surgery, The Eighth Hospital of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Conference/Journal: PLoS One.
Date published: 2014 Feb 3
Other:
Volume ID: 9 , Issue ID: 2 , Pages: e88135 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088135 , Word Count: 244
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Human telomeres, tandem repeats of TTAGGG nucleotides at the ends of chromosomes, are essential for maintaining genomic integrity and stability. Results of previous epidemiologic studies about the association of telomere length with risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) have been conflicting.
METHODS:
A case-control study was conducted in a Han population in Wuhan, central China. The relative telomere length (RTL) was measured in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 628 CRC cases and 1,256 age and sex frequency matched cancer-free controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression models to evaluate the association between RTL and CRC risk.
RESULTS:
Using median RTL in the controls as the cutoff, individuals with shorter RTL were associated with a significantly increased risk of CRC (adjusted OR = 1.27, 95%CI: 1.05-1.55). When participants were further categorized into 3 and 4 groups according to the tertile and quartile RTL values of controls, significant relationships were still observed between shorter RTL and increased CRC risk (OR per tertile = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.00-1.28, P trend = 0.045; OR per quartile = 1.12, 95%CI: 1.03-1.23, P trend = 0.012). In stratified analyses, significant association between shorter RTL and increased CRC risk was found in females, individuals younger than 60 years old, never smokers and never drinkers.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggested that short telomere length in PBLs was significantly associated with an increased risk of CRC in Chinese Han population. Further validation in large prospective studies and investigation of the biologic mechanisms are warranted.
PMID: 24498432
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