title: Telomere shortening occurs early during gastrocarcinogenesis.
abstract: When telomeres are shortened to a critical length, they will initiate chromosomal instability (CIN) and may finally cause tumorigenesis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the shortened telomere as a potential biomarker for tumorigenesis in gastric carcinoma. The telomeres in matched cancer and adjacent noncancer mucosa samples from 86 gastric carcinoma patients were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). According to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), tumor stages were classified into four groups: stage I (n = 23), stage II (n = 20), stage III (n = 23), and stage IV (n = 20). Telomere length decreased with aging in both adjacent noncancer mucosa and cancer tissue (r = -0.261 (P = 0.008) and r = -0.27 (P = 0.012), respectively). The telomere length of UICC stage I tumors was significantly shorter than the average telomere length in adjacent noncancer mucosa (P = 0.023). Telomere length increased gradually with increasing UICC stage (P = 0.032). The telomere length of UICC stage IV tumors was significantly longer, when compared to that in noncancer mucosa (P = 0.019) and stage I tumors (P = 0.002). In summary, telomere length undergoes shortening in early stage gastric carcinoma and lengthening in advanced gastric carcinoma. Additionally, telomere shortening may initiate the tumorigenesis of gastric carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, No. 79, Qingchun Road, 310003 Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Yunchuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Linhang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Xiaosun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jiren
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018279:Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059506:Telomere Shortening / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004247:DNA