Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21695195›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2011

Shortened telomere length is associated with increased risk of cancer: a meta-analysis.

Hongxia Ma, Ziyuan Zhou, Sheng Wei, Zhensheng Liu, Karen A Pooley, Alison M Dunning, Ulrika Svenson, Göran Roos, H Dean Hosgood, Min Shen and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 209 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
209citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
16.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

209 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 375 citations in OpenAlex.

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  16. Telomere length and risk of glioma.Cancer epidemiology · 2013
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  19. Observational
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149 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Hongxia MaDepartment of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Ziyuan Zhou
Sheng Wei
Zhensheng Liu
Karen A Pooley
Alison M Dunning
Ulrika Svenson
Göran Roos
H Dean Hosgood
Min Shen
Qingyi Wei
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · USUmeå University · SECancer Research UK · GBNational Cancer Institute · USNational Institutes of Health · USUniversity of Cambridge · GB

Funding

Tumor Evolution and Metastasis ProgramP30CA016672 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI Fabien Delerue · 1985 to 2026
$290.8M
Molecular Epidemiology of Head and Neck CancerR01ES011740 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI WEI, QINGYI · 2001 to 2012
$6.3M
Genotypes and Phenotypes of Apoptosis and Risk of Head and Neck CancerR01CA131274 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI WEI, QINGYI · 2009 to 2013
$3.0M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA016672NCI NIH HHS R01 CA131274NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES011740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTelomeres play a key role in the maintenance of chromosome integrity and stability, and telomere shortening is involved in initiation and progression of malignancies. A series of epidemiological studies have examined the association between shortened telomeres and risk of cancers, but the findings remain conflicting.

methodsA dataset composed of 11,255 cases and 13,101 controls from 21 publications was included in a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between overall cancer risk or cancer-specific risk and the relative telomere length. Heterogeneity among studies and their publication bias were further assessed by the χ(2)-based Q statistic test and Egger's test, respectively.

resultsThe results showed that shorter telomeres were significantly associated with cancer risk (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.14-1.60), compared with longer telomeres. In the stratified analysis by tumor type, the association remained significant in subgroups of bladder cancer (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.38-2.44), lung cancer (OR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.18-4.88), smoking-related cancers (OR = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.83-2.78), cancers in the digestive system (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.53-1.87) and the urogenital system (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.12-2.67). Furthermore, the results also indicated that the association between the relative telomere length and overall cancer risk was statistically significant in studies of Caucasian subjects, Asian subjects, retrospective designs, hospital-based controls and smaller sample sizes. Funnel plot and Egger's test suggested that there was no publication bias in the current meta-analysis (P = 0.532).

conclusionsThe results of this meta-analysis suggest that the presence of shortened telomeres may be a marker for susceptibility to human cancer, but single larger, well-design prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Indexed as

Genetic Predisposition to DiseaseConfidence IntervalsHumansNeoplasmsOdds RatioPublication BiasRisk FactorsTelomere

Identifiers

PMID21695195
PMCPMC3112149
OpenAlexW2136996519

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.