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Breast Cancer Survival Is Associated with Telomere Length in Peripheral Blood Cells

¹ Department of Medical Biosciences/Pathology, ² Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, and ³ Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; and ⁴ Department of Surgery and ⁵ Department of Clinical Sciences Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Requests for reprints: Göran Roos, Department of Medical Biosciences, Umeå University, S-90187, Umeå, Sweden. Phone: 469-0785-1801; Fax: 46-90-7852889; E-mail: goran.roos{at}medbio.umu.se.

Key Words: breast cancer • telomere length • peripheral blood • prognosis

Telomeres are essential for maintaining chromosomal stability. Previous studies have indicated that individuals with shorter blood telomeres may be at higher risk of developing various types of cancer, such as in lung, bladder, and kidney. We have analyzed relative telomere length (RTL) of peripheral blood cells in relation to breast cancer incidence and prognosis. The study included 265 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and 446 female controls. RTL was measured by real-time PCR, and our results show that the patient group displayed significantly longer telomeres compared with controls (P < 0.001). Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) for breast cancer risk increased with increasing telomere length, with a maximal OR of 5.17 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 3.09–8.64] for the quartile with the longest telomeres. Furthermore, RTL carried prognostic information for patients with advanced disease. Node positive (N+) patients with short telomeres (median) showed an increased survival compared with N+ patients with long telomeres (P = 0.001). For patients with ages <50 years with tumors >16 mm (median tumor diameter), short telomeres were associated with a significantly better outcome than longer telomeres (P = 0.006). Cox regression analysis showed that long RTL was a significant independent negative prognostic factor (hazards ratio, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.33–6.39; P = 0.007). Our results indicate that blood RTL may serve as a prognostic indicator in breast cancer patients with advanced disease. [Cancer Res 2008;68(10):3618–23]