Telomere Length Predicts Cancer Risk

Telomere Length Predicts Cancer Risk, According to Large Epidemiological Study

Longer-than-expected telomeres—which are composed of repeated sequences of DNA and are shortened every time a cell divides—are associated with an increased cancer risk, according to research led by scientists from Pitt and Singapore.

“Telomeres and cancer clearly have a complex relationship,” said Jian-Min Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., who holds the Arnold Palmer Endowed Chair in Cancer Prevention at UPCI and is lead or senior author on two studies being presented at AACR. “Our hope is that by understanding this relationship, we may be able to predict which people are most likely to develop certain cancers so they can take preventive measures and perhaps be screened more often, as well as develop therapies to help our DNA keep or return its telomeres to a healthy length.”

Yuan and his colleagues analyzed blood samples and health data on more than 28,000 Chinese people enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which has followed the health outcomes of participants since 1993. As of the end of 2015, 4,060 participants had developed cancer.

Participants were divided into five groups, based on how much longer their telomeres were than expected. The group with the longest telomeres had 33 percent higher odds of developing any cancer than the group with the shortest telomeres, after taking into account the effect of age, sex, education and smoking habits. That group also had 66 percent higher odds of developing lung cancer, 39 percent higher odds of developing breast cancer, 55 percent higher odds of developing prostate cancer and 37 percent higher odds of developing colorectal cancer. Of all the cancers, pancreatic had the largest increase in incidence related to longer telomeres, with participants in the highest one-fifth for telomere length at nearly 2.6 times the odds of developing pancreatic cancer, compared to those in the lowest one-fifth for telomere length. Only the risk of liver cancer ...

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