Shorter telomere length of T-cells in peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer

Abstract

PurposeTelomere shortening occurs in tumor tissues and peripheral blood lymphocytes of many common human malignancies, including lung cancer, but its variation in T-cells has never been investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess telomere length in T-cells and its correlation with the clinical characteristics of patients with lung cancer.Patients and methodsA total of 40 patients with lung cancer but without prior cancer history and 25 healthy individuals were selected. T-cells were isolated and their telomere lengths were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction methods.ResultsTelomere length in T-cells was significantly shorter in patients with lung cancer than in controls (P<0.001). Shorter telomere length was significantly associated with increased clinical stage (P=0.008) and distant metastasis (P=0.028). Naïve T-cells from patients with lung cancer had significantly decreased telomere length when compared with those from controls (P=0.012).ConclusionThe shortened telomere length in T-cells occurred in naïve T-cells and might be related to lung cancer progression.

Prognostic Value of Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Telomere Length in Gynecologic Malignant Tumors

“…These findings as well as those from the present study, support that cancer patients with short lymphocyte telomeres have poorer outcomes because of telomere attrition [ 33 ]. Here, we demonstrated that telomere length is associated with the clinical stage in gynecological cancers, consistent with the results of a previous study [ 34 ] and strengthening the evidence that short telomeres are positively associated with advanced carcinogenic stages. Notably, as described above, in renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, long rather than short telomeres are associated with poor prognosis [ 35 ].…”

Leukocyte telomere length in relation to risk of lung adenocarcinoma incidence: Findings from the Singapore Chinese Health Study

“…Retrospective case-control studies often reported an increased risk of lung cancer with shorter telomeres. 27–29 Telomere shorting may occur after diagnosis due to treatment or disease progression. 30 A recent study reported significantly shorter telomeres in patients with advanced stage of lung cancer than those with early stage lung cancer, suggesting that tumor progression may impact peripheral blood leukocyte telomere length.…”

“…30 A recent study reported significantly shorter telomeres in patients with advanced stage of lung cancer than those with early stage lung cancer, suggesting that tumor progression may impact peripheral blood leukocyte telomere length. 29 Thus retrospective studies, in which blood samples were collected from patients after cancer diagnosis or treatment, would yield shorter telomeres than those in pre-diagnosed blood samples, resulting in a spurious elevation in risk of lung cancer associated with shorter telomeres.…”

Telomere Shortening and Its Association with Cell Dysfunction in Lung Diseases

“…With aging, the immune cells display TS, which affects the efficacy of activating effector mechanisms, such as cytotoxicity, phagocytosis, and cytokine delivery. This phenomenon is known as immunosenescence, and it is one of the mechanisms more described that plays a significant role in lung diseases such as IPF, familial pulmonary fibrosis (FPF), and lung cancer [ 63 , 64 , 65 ].…”

“…Yang et al [ 63 ] demonstrated that the telomeres of naïve T cells from lung cancer patients were shorter than those of naïve T cells from healthy donors and that this was associated with advanced clinical stage. Conversely, in allergic diseases, the presence of shortened telomeres appears to induce airway inflammation; a positive correlation between leukocytes with shortened telomeres and inflammation in patients with severe asthma has been reported [ 100 ].…”