Authors' Affiliations: Departments of Epidemiology, Radiation Oncology, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
Cancer Res. 2014 May 1;74(9):2476-86. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-2968. Epub 2014 Mar 11.
Telomere dysfunction is a crucial event in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. Telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes has been associated with lung cancer risk, but the relationship has remained controversial. In this study, we investigated whether the association might be confounded by study of different histological subtypes of lung cancer. We measured relative telomere lengths in patients in a large case-control study of lung cancer and performed stratified analyses according to the two major histologic subtypes [adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)]. Notably, patients with adenocarcinoma had longer telomeres than controls, whereas patients with SCC had shorter telomeres compared with controls. Long telomeres were associated with increased risk of adenocarcinoma, with the highest risk associated with female sex, younger age (<60 years), and lighter smoking (<30 pack-years). In contrast, long telomeres were protective against SCC, particularly in male patients. Our results extend the concept that telomere length affects risk of lung cancer in a manner that differs with histologic subtype.
端粒功能障碍是恶性转化和肿瘤发生的关键事件。外周血白细胞的端粒长度与肺癌风险相关，但这种关系一直存在争议。在这项研究中，我们研究了这种关联是否可能因肺癌不同组织学亚型的研究而受到混淆。我们在一项大型肺癌病例对照研究中测量了患者的相对端粒长度，并根据两种主要组织学亚型（腺癌和鳞状细胞癌[SCC]）进行了分层分析。值得注意的是，与对照组相比，腺癌患者的端粒更长，而 SCC 患者的端粒更短。长端粒与腺癌风险增加相关，最高风险与女性、较年轻（<60 岁）和较轻的吸烟量（<30 包年）相关。相反，长端粒对 SCC 有保护作用，尤其是在男性患者中。我们的研究结果扩展了这样一种概念，即端粒长度以与组织学亚型不同的方式影响肺癌风险。
