title: Telomere length, genetic variants and risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in Southeast Chinese.
abstract: Telomere dysfunction participates in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. Previous studies have explored the associations between telomere length (TL) and cancer susceptibility; however, the findings are inconclusive. The associations between genetic variants and TL have been verified by quite a few genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Yet, to date, there was no published study on the relationship between TL, related genetic variants and susceptibility to squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in Chinese. Hence, we detected relative telomere length (RTL) by using quantitative PCR and genotyped seven selected single nucleotide polymorphisms by TaqMan allelic discrimination assay in 510 SCCHN cases and 913 controls in southeast Chinese. The results showed that RTL was significantly associated with SCCHN risk [(adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08-1.32, P = 0.001]. Furthermore, among seven selected SNPs, only G allele of rs2736100 related to RTL in Caucasians was significantly associated with both the decreased RTL (P = 0.002) and the increased susceptibility to SCCHN in Chinese (additive model: adjusted OR = 1.17, 95%CI = 1.00-1.38, P = 0.049). These findings provide evidence that shortened TL is a risk factor for SCCHN, and genetic variants can contribute to both TL and the susceptibility to SCCHN in southeast Chinese population.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Yayun
authors: Y
authors: Gu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Chengxiao
authors: C
authors: Yu
authors: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors: Limin
authors: L
authors: Miao
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Lihua
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Chongquan
authors: C
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Wenjie
authors: W
authors: Xue
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Jiangbo
authors: J
authors: Du
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors: Hua
authors: H
authors: Yuan
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Juncheng
authors: J
authors: Dai
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Guangfu
authors: G
authors: Jin
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Zhibin
authors: Z
authors: Hu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Hongxia
authors: H
authors: Ma
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.|Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China.
authors: Hongbing
authors: H
authors: Shen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis