Telomere length reflects lifetime cumulative oxidative stress from environmental exposures, such as cigarette smoking and chronic inflammation. Shortened telomere length is thought to cause genomic instability and has been associated with several cancers. We examined the association of telomere length in peripheral leukocyte DNA with gastric cancer risk as well as potential confounding factors ...

Recent studies have shown associations between human population single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and white blood cell telomere shortness; independently, telomere shortness has been associated with higher risks of various cancers. However, no single previous study simultaneously linked a given SNP both with telomere length and reduced risk of cancer. In this issue of the journal (beginning ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The stabilization of telomere length has important roles in the carcinogenesis of colorectal cancer. A systemic review and meta-analysis of published studies was performed to assess the prognostic role of telomere length in colorectal cancer. METHODS Pubmed and Embase were searched for eligible studies on the association between telomere length and overall survival in colorect...

BACKGROUND Studies examining the association between telomere length and cancer risk have often relied on measurement of telomere length from a single blood draw using a real-time PCR technique. We examined the reliability of telomere length measurement using sequential samples collected over a 9-month period. METHODS AND FINDINGS Relative telomere length in peripheral blood was estimated usi...

Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for multiple diseases of aging. Accelerated cellular aging as indexed by short telomere length has emerged as a potential common biological mechanism linking various forms of psychological stress and diseases of aging. Stress appraisals determine the degree and type of biological stress responses and altered stress appraisals may be a common psychol...

Telomere length varies considerably among individuals. It is highly heritable and decreases with ageing or ageing related diseases. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several genetic loci associated with telomere length in adults. However, it is unclear whether these loci represent the genetic basis of telomere length or determine the individual susceptibility to s...

CONTEXT Telomeres are essential to preserve the integrity of the genome. Critically short telomeres lead to replicative cell senescence and chromosomal instability and may thereby increase cancer risk. OBJECTIVE To determine the association between baseline telomere length and incident cancer and cancer mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Leukocyte telomere length was measured by q...

BACKGROUND/AIMS A number of genome-wide and candidate gene association studies have identified polymorphisms associated with telomere length in Caucasian populations. This study was conducted to determine the impacts of 17 polymorphisms identified in Caucasians on telomere length in a Korean population. METHODS Ninety-four healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Relative telomere len...

PURPOSE Telomere length plays an important role in the maintenance of chromosomal stability and in tumorigenesis. We hypothesized that telomere length in peripheral WBC DNA obtained from healthy individuals would be a predictor of future risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Using a new assay to measure relative telomere length, monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR, wh...