School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Research Center, Shandong Cancer Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Jul 1;104(7):2712-2718. doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-02471.
Telomere length may contribute to predisposition to papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
To test this hypothesis, we examined the association between leukocyte telomere length and PTC risk.
DESIGN/SETTING: Case-control study in a Chinese Han population.
PARTICIPANTS/INTERVENTION: A total of 1200 PTC cases and 1201 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. ORs and 95% CIs were calculated by logistic regression.
Short relative telomere length (RTL) was significantly associated with elevated risk of PTC (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.35 to 1.92; P = 1.30 × 10-7). Interestingly, when individuals were categorized into four groups on the basis of quartile distribution of relative telomere length (RTL) in controls, we observed a reverse U-shaped association between telomere length and PTC risk. Compared with those in the first (the longest) quartile as the reference group, ORs (95% CIs) were 5.61 (4.04 to 7.78) (P = 6.10 × 10-25), 9.33 (6.78 to 12.83) (P = 6.99 × 10-43), and 1.23 (0.83 to 1.81) (P = 0.300) for individuals in the second, third, and fourth (the shortest) quartiles, respectively. This reverse U-shaped relationship was more apparent in younger individuals.
Our findings suggest that RTL is significantly associated with susceptibility to PTC. There is an obvious reverse U-shaped association between telomere length and PTC risk. Telomere length may be a potential pronouncing biomarker to identify individuals with a high risk of developing PTC.
端粒长度可能导致甲状腺乳头状癌（PTC）的易感性。
为了检验这一假说，我们研究了白细胞端粒长度与 PTC 风险之间的关联。
设计/环境：在中国汉族人群中进行的病例对照研究。
参与者/干预措施：共纳入 1200 例 PTC 病例和 1201 名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者。采用 logistic 回归计算比值比（OR）和 95%置信区间（CI）。
相对短的端粒长度（RTL）与 PTC 风险升高显著相关（OR=1.61，95%CI=1.35 至 1.92；P=1.30×10-7）。有趣的是，当根据对照组相对端粒长度（RTL）的四分位分布将个体分为四组时，我们观察到端粒长度与 PTC 风险之间存在反向 U 型关联。与作为参考组的第一（最长）四分位组相比，OR（95%CI）分别为 5.61（4.04 至 7.78）（P=6.10×10-25）、9.33（6.78 至 12.83）（P=6.99×10-43）和 1.23（0.83 至 1.81）（P=0.300），分别用于第二、第三和第四（最短）四分位的个体。这种反向 U 型关系在年轻个体中更为明显。
我们的研究结果表明，RTL 与 PTC 的易感性显著相关。端粒长度与 PTC 风险之间存在明显的反向 U 型关联。端粒长度可能是识别 PTC 高危个体的潜在显著生物标志物。
