rs2735940

Meta-analysis of 204,993 SNPs in 22 telomere structure and maintenance genes identified 13 independent SNPs associated with colorectal, breast, prostate, ovarian, and lung cancer risk in 61,851 cases and 74,457 controls of European descent. Seven of these associations were novel findings. Notable findings include rs12655062 (positively associated with prostate cancer, inversely with colorectal/ovarian cancers), rs75316749 (positively associated with colorectal, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers), rs974404 and rs12144215 in DCLRE1B (inversely associated with prostate/lung and colorectal/breast/ovarian cancers respectively), rs34978822 in RTEL1 (inversely associated with prostate/lung cancers), and rs116895242 near POT1 (inversely associated with colorectal, ovarian, and lung cancers).

This case-control study of 3,754 breast cancer cases and 4,369 controls from admixed US and Mexican women examined telomere length (TL) and nine telomere-related genes. Longer TL was associated with increased breast cancer risk (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.38-2.55), with strongest association among women with ≥70% Indigenous American ancestry (OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.74-5.67). Multiple SNPs showed associations with breast cancer risk, including TEP1 rs938886 (OR 0.82), TERT rs4246742 (OR 0.85), TERT rs2242652 (OR 1.51), TERF2 rs3785074 (OR 1.13), and TNKS rs6990300 (OR 0.89). Several SNPs showed differential associations by hormone receptor status and genetic ancestry.

This case-control study of 218 Egyptian breast cancer patients and 178 healthy controls examined associations between hTERT polymorphisms and breast cancer risk. The GG genotype and G allele of hTERT rs2736098G>A were significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk (OR=7.484, p≤0.001; OR=1.743, p=0.006), as was the rs2735940 TT genotype (OR=1.519, p=0.045). The MNS16A tandem repeat showed no significant association. Telomere length was significantly reduced in breast cancer patients younger than 40 years compared to age-matched controls.

This nested case-control study examined the association between relative telomere length and genetic variants in telomere maintenance genes (TERT, TNKS2, POT1, TERF1, TERF2) with endometrial cancer risk in 674 cases and 1,685 controls. Relative telomere length was not significantly associated with endometrial cancer risk (OR=1.20, 95% CI=0.73-1.96). However, variants rs2736122 in TERT (OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.01-1.38) and rs12412538 in TNKS2 (OR=1.16, 95% CI=1.00-1.34) showed elevated endometrial cancer risk, though these associations did not reach statistical significance after multiple comparisons correction.