Abstract 3133: Leukocyte telomere length, cancer incidence and all-cause mortality among Chinese adults: Singapore Chinese health study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Telomeres play a key role in the chromosomal maintenance and stability. To date, very few studies have investigated the association between leukocyte telomere length with cancer incidence and all-cause mortality, particularly among Asian population. Methods: Relative telomere lengths in genomic DNA from peripheral blood samples were quantified using a validated quantitative real-time PCR among 26,540 middle-aged or older Chinese adults. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of incident cancer and deaths by quintiles of telomere length were calculated using the Cox proportional hazards regression method with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: During 13.2 years of follow-up, 4,353 individuals developed cancer and 2,660 participants died of cancer. Participants with the longest telomeres had significantly 16% higher risk of developing cancer compared to those with the shortest telomeres after controlling for established risk factors (95% CI: 1.06, 1.28; Ptrend= 0.0003). We found similar pattern of results for lung adenocarcinoma (HRQ5 vs. Q1=2.89; 95% CI: 1.95, 4.27), pancreatic cancer (HRQ5 vs. Q1=2.36; 95% CI: 1.29, 4.32), kidney cancer (HRQ5 vs. Q1=3.23; 95% CI: 1.47, 7.53), and genitourinary system cancers including kidney, renal pelvis, ureter, and bladder (HRQ5 vs. Q1=1.56; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.39). In contrast, longer telomeres were associated with lower risk of overall death (HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.93; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.00), and deaths due to ischemic heart disease (HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.85; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.02), respiratory disease (HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.76; 95% CI: 0.64, 0.91), non-cancer (HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.80; 95%: 0.73, 0.88) and other diseases (HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.77; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.94). Conclusion: The findings of this cohort study support the hypothesis that longer telomere length may be a risk factor for cancer and cancer-related deaths, but might have opposing impact on overall survival. Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01 CA144034 and UM1 CA182876); NIH/NCI T32CA186873; National Medical Research Council, Singapore (NMRC/CSA/0055/2013); NIH (P20CA210300). Citation Format: Hamed Samavat, Hung N. Luu, Renwei Wang, Aizhen Jin, Woon-Puay Koh, Jian-Min Yuan. Leukocyte telomere length, cancer incidence and all-cause mortality among Chinese adults: Singapore Chinese health study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3133.