Yang Bowen, Bi Junming, Zeng Weinan, Chen Mingquan, Yao Zhihao, Cheng Shouyu, Jiang Zhaoqiang, Zhang Changzheng, Liao Hangyu, Gu Xiaokang, Xian Zhiyong, Yu Yuming
Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510000, China.
Department of Urology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510000, China.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2025 Apr 29;37(1):134. doi: 10.1007/s40520-025-03046-z.
The relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and the risk of developing various cancers has always been controversial and predominantly focused on European populations. Hence, Mendelian randomization (MR) was applied to the Asian population to explore the causal relationships between LTL and the risk of developing various cancers.
We explored the causal connection between LTL and the risk of developing thirteen types of cancer in Asian populations using freely available genetic variation data. The primary analytical method employed was the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, complemented by sensitivity and validation analyses. Following Bonferroni correction, P < 0.0038 was considered to indicate statistical significance, and P values ranging from 0.0038 to 0.05 were considered to indicate a nominally significant association.
The findings indicated significant positive associations between LTL and the risk of developing lung cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 1.6009, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3056-1.9629, P = 6.08 × 10] and prostate cancer (OR = 1.4200, 95% CI 1.1489-1.7550, P = 0.0012). Additionally, there was a nominally significant association between LTL and the risk of developing hematological malignancy (OR = 1.5119, 95% CI 1.0810-2.1146, P = 0.0157). No statistically significant relationships between LTL and the risk of developing the other ten kinds of cancer were detected. No causal link between the risk of developing various cancers and LTL was discovered.
Asians with longer telomeres are more prone to developing lung and prostate cancer. There is also a nominally significant association between longer telomeres and the risk of developing hematological malignancy.
白细胞端粒长度（LTL）与各种癌症发生风险之间的关系一直存在争议，且主要集中在欧洲人群。因此，本研究采用孟德尔随机化（MR）方法对亚洲人群进行研究，以探索LTL与各种癌症发生风险之间的因果关系。
我们利用公开可用的基因变异数据，探讨亚洲人群中LTL与13种癌症发生风险之间的因果联系。主要分析方法采用逆方差加权（IVW）法，并辅以敏感性和验证性分析。经过Bonferroni校正后，P < 0.0038被认为具有统计学意义，P值在0.0038至0.05之间被认为具有名义上的显著关联。
研究结果表明，LTL与肺癌发生风险之间存在显著正相关[比值比（OR）= 1.6009，95%置信区间（CI）1.3056 - 1.9629，P = 6.08×10]以及前列腺癌（OR = 1.4200，95% CI 1.1489 - 1.7550，P = 0.0012）。此外，LTL与血液系统恶性肿瘤发生风险之间存在名义上的显著关联（OR = 1.5119，95% CI 1.0810 - 2.1146，P = 0.0157）。未检测到LTL与其他十种癌症发生风险之间存在统计学显著关系。未发现各种癌症发生风险与LTL之间存在因果联系。
端粒较长的亚洲人更容易患肺癌和前列腺癌。端粒较长与血液系统恶性肿瘤发生风险之间也存在名义上的显著关联。
