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Telomere length in blood cells and breast cancer risk: investigations in two case–control studies

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Abstract

Telomere dysfunction, which leads to genomic instability, is hypothesized to play a causal role in the development of breast cancer. However, the few epidemiologic studies that assessed the relationship between telomere length in blood cells and breast cancer risk have been inconsistent. We conducted two case–control studies to further understand the role of telomere length and breast cancer risk. Overall telomere lengths were measured by telomere quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridization (TQ-FISH) and telomere quantitative real-time PCR (TQ-PCR). The associations between telomere length in blood leukocytes and risk of breast cancer were examined in two breast cancer case–control studies that were conducted at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC). Using the 50th percentile value in controls as a cut point, women who had shorter telomere length were not at significantly increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who had longer telomere length in the RPCI study (odds ratio [OR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.84–2.12), in the LCCC study (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.73–1.91), or in the combined RPCI and LCCC studies (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.89–1.71). There was no significant dose–response relationship across quartiles of telomere length and no significant difference when comparing women in the lowest to highest quartile of telomere length. Overall telomere length in blood leukocytes was not significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Katherine Meeker, Kenshata Watkins, Whitney Mcleod, and Christine Nagel for their assistance in study subject recruitment; Dingfeng Han for performing TQ-PCR for telomere length measurement; and Lenka Goldman for data preparation. We are indebted to the physicians of the Betty Lou Ourisman Breast Center of the LCCC and the physicians in the department of surgical oncology of the RPCI for their strong support of patient recruitment. We thank Dr. Alan Meeker of Johns Hopkins University for providing Telometer software and Dr. Richard Cawthon of University of Utah for sharing their latest real-time telomere PCR protocol. The Clinical Molecular Epidemiology Shared Resource at the LCCC provided services for questionnaire data entry for the LCCC study. This work was supported by Susan G. Komen for the Cure (BCTR 0600562 to Y.L.Z); the National Institutes of Health cancer center support grant (P30 CA51008 to LCCC and P30 CA016056 to RPCI) and DOD grant (DAMD17-03-1-0446) supports the control recruitment for the LCCC study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology Program, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Box 571465, Washington, DC, 20057, USA

    Yun-Ling Zheng & Celia Byrne

  2. Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Christine Ambrosone, Warren Davis, Mary Nesline & Susan E. McCann

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  1. Yun-Ling Zheng
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  2. Christine Ambrosone
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  3. Celia Byrne
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  4. Warren Davis
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  5. Mary Nesline
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  6. Susan E. McCann
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Correspondence to Yun-Ling Zheng.

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Zheng, YL., Ambrosone, C., Byrne, C. et al. Telomere length in blood cells and breast cancer risk: investigations in two case–control studies. Breast Cancer Res Treat 120, 769–775 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0440-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0440-z

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