Association of leukocyte telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes with endometrial cancer risk in Caucasian Americans

Telomeres are the protective structure at the ends of each chromosome and play an important role in maintaining genomic integrity. Interindividual variation of telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes has been associated with the risks of developing many human diseases including several cancers. The association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and endometrial cancer risk is still inconsistent. Using a case–control study of endometrial cancer patients (n = 139) and control subjects (n = 139) in a Caucasian population, we assessed the association of relative LTL with the risk of endometrial cancer. We calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals using multivariate logistic regression. We also determined the joint effects of LTL with established risk factors of endometrial cancer. The normalized LTL was significantly longer in endometrial cancer cases (median, 0.93; range, 0.19–1.62) than in controls (median, 0.70; range, 0.03–2.14) (P < 0.001). When individuals were dichotomized into long and short groups based on the median LTL value in the controls, individuals with long LTL had a significantly increased risk of endometrial cancer (adjusted OR, 3.84; 95%CI, 2.16–6.85; P < 0.001) compared to those with short LTL. When individuals were categorized into three groups or four groups according to tertile or quartile LTL value in the controls, there was a significant dose–response association between LTL and the risk of endometrial cancer (P < 0.001). Joint effects between LTL and smoking status, body mass index and a history of hypertension or diabetes in elevating endometrial cancer risk were observed. Long telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes is associated with a significantly increased risk of endometrial cancer.