Shorter Telomeres Associate with a Reduced Risk of Melanoma Development.
Author: Nan H, Du M, De Vivo I, Manson JE, Liu S, McTiernan A, Curb JD, Lessin LS, Bonner MR, Guo Q, Qureshi AA, Hunter DJ, Han J.
Affiliation:
Authors' Affiliations: Channing Laboratory, Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine; Clinical Research Program, Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Program on Genomics and Nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Division of Public Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington; Pacific Health Research Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii; Medstar Research Institute and Howard University, Washington, District of Columbia; and Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York.
Conference/Journal: Cancer Res.
Date published: 2011 Oct 25
Other:
Word Count: 195
Epidemiologic studies have linked shortened telomeres with the development of many cancers. However, recent studies have suggested that longer telomeres may lead to prolonged senescence in melanocytes, providing increased opportunity for malignant transformation. We therefore examined whether shorter prediagnostically measured relative telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) was associated with a decreased risk of cutaneous melanoma. Telomere length in prospectively collected PBLs was measured in incident melanoma cases and age-matched controls selected from participants in three large prospective cohorts: the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), and the Nurses' Health Study (NHS). Shorter telomere lengths were associated with decreased risk of melanoma in each cohort. The P(trend) across quartiles was 0.03 in the WHI-OS and 0.008 in the HPFS. When combining these two datasets with published data in the NHS (P(trend), 0.09), compared with individuals in the fourth quartile (the longest telomere lengths), those in the first quartile had an OR of 0.43 (95% CI: 0.28-0.68; P(trend), 0.0003). Unlike findings for other tumors, shorter telomeres were significantly associated with a decreased risk of melanoma in this study, suggesting a unique role of telomeres in melanoma development. Cancer Res; 71(21); 1-6. ©2011 AACR.
PMID: 22028319
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