title: No association between telomere length-related loci and number of cutaneous nevi.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Longer telomeres have been associated both with increased melanoma risk and increased nevus counts. Nevus count is one of the strongest risk factors for melanoma. Recent data showed that a genetic score derived by telomere length-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was strongly associated with melanoma risk; however, the relationships between these SNPs and number of cutaneous nevi have not been investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the associations between telomere length-related SNPs reported by previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) and nevus counts among 15,955 participants of European Ancestry in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the SNPs was associated with nevus counts, nor was the genetic score combining the dosage of alleles related to increased telomere length.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The telomere length-related SNPs identified by published GWAS do not appear to play an important role in nevus formation. Genetic determinants of telomere length reported by GWAS do not explain the observed epidemiologic association between telomere length and nevus counts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Geyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mengmeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nan
mesh_terms: D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D056426:Genetic Loci; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D009506:Nevus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: genetic score; genome-wide association study; melanoma; nevus count; telomere length-related loci