The Relationship between Telomere Length and Cancer Mortality: Data from the 1999-2002 National Healthy and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Objectives The association between telomeres length (TL) and cancer mortality is uncertain. We tested the hypotheses that long TL are associated with reduced cancer mortality. Design Prospective cohort study Setting the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES, 1999-2002). Participants The analytic sample included adults (n = 7183) who had TL measurements. Measurements DNA was obtained via blood samples. Telomere length was assessed using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Results During follow-up (0.08-12.7 person-years, median = 9.5 years), we observed 195 participants had cancer as causes of death. TL was negatively corelated with age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), C-reactive protein (CRP), race, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer mortality, conversely, positively corelated with alcohol use, but not related to diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and smoking. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that TL was significantly associated with cancer mortality (log-rank, P <0.001). Conclusions Our study expands upon previous evidence of a relationship between TL and cancer mortality. TL may be a useful tool for evaluating risk of cancer mortality in American adults.