Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7240, USA.
Clin Cancer Res. 2009 Dec 1;15(23):7429-33. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-0845. Epub 2009 Nov 24.
Telomere length plays an important role in the maintenance of chromosomal stability and in tumorigenesis. We hypothesized that telomere length in peripheral WBC DNA obtained from healthy individuals would be a predictor of future risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Using a new assay to measure relative telomere length, monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR, which strongly correlates with telomere length measured by Southern blot (Spearman r = 0.91, P < 0.0001) and has high precision (coefficient of variation = 7%), we compared telomere length in peripheral WBC DNA in 107 incident male non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases and 107 matched controls within the prospective Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort.
Median (10th, 90th percentile) telomere length was 1.10 (0.79, 1.43) in cases and 1.02 (0.78, 1.26) in controls (P = 0.0017, Wilcoxon sign test). There was a strong dose-response relationship between quartiles of telomere length and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma overall [odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) by quartile: 1.0; 1.1 (0.4-2.7); 1.8 (0.7-4.9); and 3.6 (1.4-8.9); P trend = 0.003], and this association was similar across the most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes present in this study.
These results suggest that longer telomere length may be a potential predictor for future risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
端粒长度在维持染色体稳定性和肿瘤发生中起着重要作用。我们假设，来自健康个体的外周血白细胞（WBC）DNA 中的端粒长度将是未来发生非霍奇金淋巴瘤风险的预测指标。
使用一种新的测量相对端粒长度的方法——单色多重定量聚合酶链反应（monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR），该方法与Southern blot 测量的端粒长度具有很强的相关性（Spearman r = 0.91，P < 0.0001），且具有很高的精度（变异系数 = 7%），我们比较了前瞻性α-生育酚、β-胡萝卜素癌症预防研究队列中 107 例新发男性非霍奇金淋巴瘤病例和 107 例匹配对照者外周血 WBC DNA 中的端粒长度。
病例组和对照组的端粒长度中位数（第 10 位、第 90 位百分位数）分别为 1.10（0.79，1.43）和 1.02（0.78，1.26）（P = 0.0017，Wilcoxon 符号秩检验）。端粒长度四分位数与非霍奇金淋巴瘤总风险之间存在很强的剂量反应关系[四分位数的比值比（95%置信区间）：1.0；1.1（0.4-2.7）；1.8（0.7-4.9）；3.6（1.4-8.9）；P 趋势= 0.003]，且这种关联在本研究中存在的最常见非霍奇金淋巴瘤亚型中相似。
这些结果表明，较长的端粒长度可能是非霍奇金淋巴瘤未来风险的潜在预测指标。
