Anticancer Research · Feb 2017

Telomere Length and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Nested Case-control Study in Taiwan Cancer Screening Program Cohort

By Zeng H, Wu HC, Wang Q et al.

BACKGROUND: Telomere length (TL) measured in peripheral blood leucocytes (PBL) might be a useful biomarker to identify elevated cancer risk. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case-control study which included 268 newly-diagnosed HCC cases and 536 matched controls, was conducted. Absolute TL in PBL was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: The overall median length of TL was not statistically shorter in HCC cases compared to healthy controls. However, we found a significant synergistic effect of longer TL and HCV infection to increase HCC risk with a relative excess risk of 6.86 (95% CI: 2.14-11.58). Among HCC cases, significant shorter TLs were observed for <5 years (OR=3.93, 95% CI: 2.00-7.72); 5-10 years (OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.10-4.24) compared to >10 years prior to diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Shorter PBL TL alone was not significantly associated with increased HCC risk. Among HCC cases, significant shorter TLs were observed for <5 years prior to diagnosis.

doi.org/10.21873/anticanres.11358Open accessPubMed 28179311Biomarkers