Genetic variants in influencing telomere length are associated with prostate cancer risk.

Telomere length measured in lymphocytes has been evaluated as a potential biomarker for prostate cancer (PCa) risk. Identifying genetic variants that affect telomere length and testing their association with disease could clarify any causal role. We therefore investigated associations between genetic variants in three telomere length-related genes and PCa risk in a case-control study. The influence of these variants on the leukocyte telomere lengths was then appraised by real-time PCR. rs2297441 [odds ratio (OR): 1.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.46, = 0.021] and rs3208008 (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.03-1.46) were associated with PCa risk. These two risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.39-0.89, = 0.012 and OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.38-0.87, = 0.009, respectively) and another SNP rs1136410 (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.01-2.31, = 0.043) were also associated with leukocyte telomere length. These findings support that genetic determinants of telomere length may influence PCa risk.