BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that genomic instability related to telomere dysfunction may contribute to carcinogenesis.
There is some evidence from case-control studies suggesting that short leukocyte telomere length may be associated with an increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, this association has not been investigated prospectively.
METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study (209 cases, 410 controls) of RCC risk in relation to prediagnostic leukocyte telomere length in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using conditional logistic regression.
RESULTS: Leukocyte telomere length was not significantly associated with future risk of RCC (highest quartile vs. lowest: OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.5-1.5; Ptrend = 0.6). Analyses stratified by sex, age, and time from blood collection to RCC diagnosis were similarly null.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study, to our knowledge the first prospective investigation of its kind, do not support an association between prediagnostic leukocyte telomere length and risk of RCC.
IMPACT: In contrast to some earlier reports, our findings add to the evidence that leukocyte telomere length is not a biomarker of risk related to the etiology of RCC.
Written by:
Hofmann JN, Lan Q, Cawthon R, Hosgood HD 3rd, Shuch B, Moore LE, Rothman N, Chow WH, Purdue MP. Are you the author?
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; Urologic Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; and Department of Epidemiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
Reference: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2013 Apr 19. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-0142
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23513041
UroToday.com Investigative Urology Section
