title: Telomere length and the risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma in melanoma-prone families with and without CDKN2A mutations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent evidence suggests a link between constitutional telomere length (TL) and cancer risk. Previous studies have suggested that longer telomeres were associated with an increased risk of melanoma and larger size and number of nevi. The goal of this study was to examine whether TL modified the risk of melanoma in melanoma-prone families with and without CDKN2A germline mutations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured TL in blood DNA in 119 cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) cases and 208 unaffected individuals. We also genotyped 13 tagging SNPs in TERT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that longer telomeres were associated with an increased risk of CMM (adjusted OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.02-7.72, P = 0.04). The association of longer TL with CMM risk was seen in CDKN2A- cases but not in CDKN2A+ cases. Among CMM cases, the presence of solar injury was associated with shorter telomeres (P = 0.002). One SNP in TERT, rs2735940, was significantly associated with TL (P = 0.002) after Bonferroni correction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that TL regulation could be variable by CDKN2A mutation status, sun exposure, and pigmentation phenotype. Therefore, TL measurement alone may not be a good marker for predicting CMM risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Paula L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Hyland
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mirabello
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burdette
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yeager
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chanock
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Alisa M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Xiaohong R
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013472:Sunlight; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
chemical_list: D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16