ZIA CP010190-10371 (Z1A) | |||
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Title | Telomere length, cancer risk, and genetic determinants | ||
Institution | NCI, Bethesda, MD | ||
Principal Investigator | Savage, Sharon | NCI Program Director | N/A |
Cancer Activity | N/A | Division | DCEG |
Funded Amount | $5,672 | Project Dates | 00/00/0000 - 00/00/0000 |
Fiscal Year | 2016 | Project Type | Intramural |
Research Topics w/ Percent Relevance | Cancer Types w/ Percent Relevance | ||
Aging (50.0%) Biochemical Epidemiology (45.0%) Cancer (100.0%) Childhood Cancers (10.0%) |
Brain (10.0%) Ovarian Cancer (30.0%) Pancreas (10.0%) Prostate (20.0%) Stomach (10.0%) |
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Research Type | |||
Cancer-Related Biology
Endogenous Factors in the Origin and Cause of Cancer |
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Abstract | |||
This study evaluates whether telomere length (TL) in surrogate tissues (e.g., blood or buccal cells) is a cancer risk factor. It also seeks to identify genetic determinants of TL. Our previous case-control studies found that short telomeres are associated with increased risk of ovarian and gastric cancer. However, our cohort study of TL and prostate cancer did not find the same association. We conducted a meta-analysis on the association between TL in surrogate tissues and cancer risk, which showed that the odds ratios from retrospective studies were much higher than for prospective studies (2.9 vs 1.16). This suggests reverse causation bias. Study heterogeneity, variability in DNA extraction and TL measurement methods may also contribute to the difference. We have also collaborated on both candidate gene and genome-wide association studies of the relationship between genetic variation and TL. Ongoing work includes many collaborative studies of TL and cancer designed to 1) determine if TL is associated with risk of specific cancers or cancer-related outcomes, 2) determine differences in TL and cancer associations in case-control versus cohort studies, and 3) use these studies as building blocks for studies of the contribution of telomere biology to cancer etiology." |