ReviewPLoS genetics2016
Telomere Length and the Cancer-Atherosclerosis Trade-Off.
Review in PLoS genetics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reconstructing the molecular life history of gliomas.Acta neuropathologica · 2018Pooled it
- Positioning TERT at the apex of aging.Nature aging · 2026Review
- Is Telomere Length Optimized in Hatchling Sand Lizards?Evolution & development · 2025Article
- TERT links telomere length to cancer risk by integrating genomic instability and immune modulation.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Annual space weather fluctuations and telomere length dynamics in a longitudinal cohort of older men: the Normative Aging Study.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2024Article
- Telomeres and aging: on and off the planet!Biogerontology · 2024Review
- Telomere dynamics and oxidative stress in Arabidopsis grown in lunar regolith simulant.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Arabidopsis telomerase takes off by uncoupling enzyme activity from telomere length maintenance in space.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Inbreeding effects on telomeres in hatchling sand lizards (Lacerta agilis): An optimal family affair?Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- The bullwhip effect, T-cell telomeres, and SARS-CoV-2.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2022Review
- Telomere Length Dynamics and Chromosomal Instability for Predicting Individual Radiosensitivity and Risk via Machine Learning.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Genetics and geography of leukocyte telomere length in sub-Saharan Africans.Human molecular genetics · 2020Article
- Comparing the Role of the p53 Gene and Telomerase Enzyme in 'Accelerated Aging Due to Cancer': A Literature Review.Cureus · 2020Review
- Telomeres and COVID-19.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2020Article
- Telomere length varies substantially between blood cell types in a reptile.Royal Society open science · 2020Article
- Article
- Article
- Helicobacter pylori infection, serum pepsinogens as markers of atrophic gastritis, and leukocyte telomere length: a population-based study.Human genomics · 2019Article
- Genetic and epigenetic regulation of human aging and longevity.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Modern humans, the longest-living terrestrial mammals, display short telomeres and repressed telomerase activity in somatic tissues compared with most short-living small mammals. The dual trait of short telomeres and repressed telomerase might render humans relatively resistant to cancer compared with short-living small mammals. However, the trade-off for cancer resistance is ostensibly increased age-related degenerative diseases, principally in the form of atherosclerosis. In this communication, we discuss (a) the genetics of human telomere length, a highly heritable complex trait that is influenced by genetic ancestry, sex, and paternal age at conception, (b) how cancer might have played a role in the evolution of telomere biology across mammals, (c) evidence that in modern humans telomere length is a determinant (rather than only a biomarker) of cancer and atherosclerosis, and (d) the potential influence of relatively recent evolutionary forces in fashioning the variation in telomere length across and within populations, and their likely lasting impact on major diseases in humans. Finally, we propose venues for future research on human telomere genetics in the context of its potential role in shaping the modern human lifespan.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.