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Short telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes in head and neck cancer: Findings in a Brazilian cohort
Author(s) -
AlvesPaiva Raquel M,
GutierrezRodrigues Fernanda,
PereiraMartins Diego A,
Figueiredo David Livingstone Alves,
Clé Diego V,
ContiFreitas Luís Carlos,
Mamede Rui Celso Martins,
Calado Rodrigo T
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25472
Subject(s) - medicine , telomere , oncology , biomarker , head and neck cancer , cohort , confounding , cancer , epidemiology , peripheral blood , genetics , biology , dna
Background Telomeres are specialized DNA structures that are critical to maintain cell homeostasis and to avoid genomic instability. Epidemiological studies have examined the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and risk of cancers, but the findings remain conflicting. Methods Mean LTL was measured by quantitative PCR in 97 patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) and 262 healthy controls. The association between LTL and patients' clinical status, such as smoke, alcoholism, and overall survival, were also evaluated. Results The age‐adjusted LTL was significantly shorter in patients with HNC in comparison to healthy controls ( P = .0003). Patients with shortest LTL had an increased risk to develop HNC ( P < 0.0001). No significant correlation was observed between LTL and patients' clinical features and personal habits. Conclusions Our data support the hypothesis that LTL is a risk factor for HNC. The use of LTL as a biomarker can help physicians to identify high‐risk individuals for HNC.