Journal
CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOMARKERS & PREVENTION
Volume 23, Issue 11, Pages 2603-2606Publisher
AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-14-0885
Keywords
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Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant-Priority Announcement: Ovarian Cancer
- Cancer Care Ontario Research Chair in Population Studies
- Canadian Cancer Society Career Development Award in Prevention
- Canada Research Chair tier I
- U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) [R01CA063682, R01CA063678]
- NIH [R01 CA082838, U01 CA167763]
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Background: Telomeres are essential for the maintenance of chromosomal integrity. Telomere shortening leads to genomic instability, which is hypothesized to play a role in cancer development and prognosis. No studies to date have evaluated the prognostic significance of telomere length for ovarian cancer. Methods: We examined whether relative telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes was associated with survival following a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. We analyzed data from a large population-based study of incident ovarian cancer conducted in Ontario between 1995 and 2004. Telomere length was measured using the quantitative PCR-based relative telomere length assay and vital status was determined by computerized record linkage and by chart review (n = 1,042). Proportional hazard models were used to estimate ovarian cancer-specific survival HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) associated with quartiles of telomere length z score. Results: We found no significant relationship between telomere length and ovarian cancer-specific mortality (P log-rank test = 0.55). Compared with women in the lowest quartile of telomere length z score, the HR for women in the highest three quartiles of telomere length z score combined was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.77-1.10). The corresponding estimates for serous and nonserous tumors were 0.68 (95% CI, 0.66-1.13) and 1.13 (95% CI, 0.71-1.79), respectively. Conclusions: Our data provide preliminary evidence that telomere length likely does not predict outcome after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Impact: This represents the first study to suggest no prognostic role of telomere length for ovarian cancer. (C)2014 AACR.
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