title: Telomere length and mortality following a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This represents the first study to suggest no prognostic role of telomere length for ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kotsopoulos
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.affiliation: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mclaughlin
authors.affiliation: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Harvey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Risch
authors.affiliation: Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. steven.narod@wchospital.ca.
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Narod
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059506:Telomere Shortening / Q000235:genetics*