Constitutive telomere length and gastric cancer risk: Case‐control analysis in Chinese Han population

Abstract

The shortening of telomeres may result in chromosome instability and thus promote tumorigenesis. Previous studies have demonstrated clear involvement of telomere shortening in the carcinogenesis of several malignancies. However, the association between constitutive telomere shortening and gastric cancer development has yet to be established. Therefore, in the present study, we measured average telomere length using quantitative real-time PCR in peripheral blood lymphocytes from a gastric cancer (GC) case-control study consisting of 396 cases and 378 controls. The results showed that GC patients had significantly shorter average telomere length than matched controls (mean ± SD 0.89 ± 0.19 vs 1.06 ± 0.25, P < 0.001). We further categorized telomere length using the 50% value in the controls as a cut-off point and assessed the association between telomere length and GC risk using multivariate logistic regression analysis. We found that short telomere length was associated with a significantly increased GC risk (adjusted odds ratio = 2.14, 95% confidence interval = 1.52-2.93). Quartile stratification revealed a dose-response relationship between telomere shortening and GC risk (P for trend < 0.001). Stratified analysis showed that sex, age, and alcohol drinking, but not smoking and Helicobacter pylori infection, seem to have a modulating effect on the average telomere length in both cases and controls. We also found that telomere shortening and smoking had a significant joint effect on GC risk. Collectively, our findings provide the first evidence linking the short telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes to elevated GC risk, which warrants further investigation in other populations. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1300-1305)

Telomeres and telomere dynamics: relevance to cancers of the GI tract

“…Comparable results were found with a similar risk (OR 2.14; 95% CI, 1.52-2.93) though smoking potentiated rather than minimized the risk for gastric cancer in this Chinese Han study population [99]. …”

Telomere Length Attrition, a Marker of Biological Senescence, Is Inversely Correlated with Triglycerides and Cholesterol in South Asian Males with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Shortened TL in T2DM subjects has previously been observed in Afro-Caribbeans [14], Arabs [15], and Caucasian subjects [17]. Information regarding TL and T2DM among South Asians is scarce, although in this population shortened TL has been observed for other age-related diseases, especially in vascular diseases (coronary artery disease) and hypertension, and cancer [13, 23, 24]. We observed that non-T2DM male subjects had, on average, shorter TL than non-T2DM females, confirming gender dimorphism which was also observed in other ethnic groups (Europeans, Japanese, as well as Arab children) [25–27].…”

The Association of Telomere Length and Cancer: a Meta-analysis

“…The OR for gastric cancer for subjects with the shortest compared to the longest TL quartile was 2.04 (95%CI 2.01 – 4.79, P trend <0.001) (17). Another gastric cancer case-control study (396 cases, 378 controls) presented a significantly increased risk (OR=3.12, 95%CI 2.01 – 4.79, P trend <0.001) in individuals with shortest TL (21). The interbatch CV was 8.1%.…”