SynthesisBMC cancer2017
Association between telomere length and the risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Association between Telomere Length and Head and Neck Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Review
- Telomere length and skin cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis of melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.Oncology letters · 2025Article
- Telomeres and telomerase in mesothelioma: Pathophysiology, biomarkers and emerging therapeutic strategies (Review).International journal of oncology · 2025Review
- Article
- Leucocyte Telomere Length and Lung Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.Cancers · 2024Review
- Current and Future Trends of Colorectal Cancer Treatment: Exploring Advances in Immunotherapy.Cancers · 2024Review
- Role of telomere length in human carcinogenesis (Review).International journal of oncology · 2023Review
- Review
- Association of Telomere Length with Colorectal Cancer Risk and Prognosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2023Review
- Pre-diagnostic telomere length and colorectal cancer risk.Cancer epidemiology · 2022Article
- Telomere length in cervical exfoliated cells, interaction with HPV genotype, and cervical cancer occurrence among high-risk HPV-positive women.Cancer medicine · 2019Article
- Telomere length differences between colorectal polyp subtypes: a colonoscopy-based case-control study.BMC cancer · 2018Article
- Article
- Article
- Meta-analysis of associations between telomere length and colorectal cancer survival from observational studies.Oncotarget · 2017Article
- Association of Relative Leucocyte Telomere Length and Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (Cancer genomics & proteomicsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman chromosomes are capped and stabilized by telomeres. Telomere length regulates a 'cellular mitotic clock' that defines the number of cell divisions and hence, cellular life span. This study aimed to synthesize the evidence on the association between peripheral blood leucocytes (PBL) telomere length and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC).
methodsWe searched relevant studies in electronic databases. When two or more observational studies reported the same outcome measures, we performed pooled analysis. All the analyses were performed on PBL using PCR. The odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength of association.
resultsSeven studies (with 8 datasets) were included in this meta-analysis; 3 prospective studies, 3 retrospective studies and 1 study with a separate prospective and retrospective designs. The pooled analysis of 4 prospective studies (summary OR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.77-1.34, I
conclusionThe current analysis is insufficient to provide evidence on the relationship between PBL telomere length and the risk of CRC. Findings suggest that there may be a complex relationship between PBL telomere length and the CRC risk or discrepancy between genetics, age of patients and clinical studies. Future well powered, large prospective studies on the relationship between telomere length and the risk of CRC, and the investigations of the biologic mechanisms are recommended.
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Registered trials
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