Relationship between telomere length and the prognosis of breast cancer based on estrogen receptor status: A Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo identify the relationship between telomere length and the prognosis of breast cancer with different status of estrogen receptor (ER).MethodsWe collected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with telomere length and breast cancer prognosis from the MRCIEU GWAS database and the dataset of a large meta-analysis conducted by the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), respectively. The relationship was identified using inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median, penalized weighted median, and maximum likelihood methods. IVW, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO methods were used to perform sensitivity analysis to assess the accuracy of the results.ResultsTelomere length was negatively associated with the prognosis of total breast cancer (odds ratio [OR]=1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.08-3.14, IVW method), especially with ER- breast cancer (OR=1.89, 95% CI=1.11-3.22, IVW method). No similar relationship was found between telomere length and the prognosis of ER+ breast cancer (OR=0.99, 95% CI=0.62-1.58, IVW method). The findings from other methods were consistent with the results shown by the IVW method. The Mendelian randomization assumptions did not appear to be violated. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the result was robust, and no bias was observed in the study.ConclusionTelomere length is associated with the prognosis of total breast cancer, especially with ER- breast cancer. There is no significant correlation between telomere length and the prognosis of ER+ breast cancer. These findings add to the evidence that long telomere could predict a poor prognosis of ER- breast cancer.

Is exposure to pesticides associated with biological aging? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In contrast, some epidemiological studies reported telomere lengthening with adverse health outcomes such as breast cancer (Y. Li & Ma, 2022), gastric cancer (Z. Wang et al, 2018), and lung cancer (Doherty et al, 2018; Tsatsakis et al, 2023).…”

Telomere-Associated Gene Signatures Correlate with Prognosis, Tumor Microenvironment, and Chemosensitivity in Breast Cancer

“…CTC1 deletion caused defective telomere replication, resulting in catastrophic telomere loss [ 38 ]. Telomere length is significantly negatively correlated with the prognosis of breast cancer patients [ 39 ]; the better prognosis of cluster 2 may be attributed to the telomere length maintained by these telomere length-related genes.…”

Causal Associations between Gut Microbiota and Different Types of Dyslipidemia: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

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