Abstract 1288: Telomere length genetic risk score is associated with breast cancer risk
Authors: Grieshober Laurie , Wactawski-Wende Jean , Blair Rachael Hageman , Mu Lina , Preus Leah , Nie Jing , Han Jiali , Meliker Jaymie R. , Rohan Thomas , Ochs-Balcom Heather M. 
Published: July 2017

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified associations of telomere maintenance genes with breast cancer risk. This, coupled with the recognized role of telomere dysfunction as a cancer hallmark, has motivated the need for further study of telomeres and breast cancer. Further, the meta-GWAS discovery of seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with telomere length (TL) enables the use of an aggregated genetic risk score (GRS) for TL. We hypothesized that a higher GRS (representing shorter TL) would be associated with increased risk of breast cancer, and that a strengthened association may exist between higher TL GRS and aggressive breast cancer risk.

Methods: In a race/ethnically diverse sample of invasive breast cancer cases (N=1,108) and non-cases (N=20,023) from the Women’s Health Initiative, we derived an unweighted TL GRS using seven previously identified TL-associated SNPs. Women were postmenopausal and the average age at enrollment was 63.9 years. We tested TL GRS associations with overall breast cancer risk and for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and her2/neu (HER2) status-specific breast cancer risk using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age and race/ethnicity (in the entire sample) and age in strata of European American (EA; N=9,796), African American (AA; N=7,504), and Hispanic American (HA; N=3,229) women. We also considered reproductive risk factors, family history of breast cancer, hormone therapy, tumor characteristics, BMI, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, and US region as potential confounders.

Results: We observed a small but statistically significant association between higher TL GRS (shorter TL) and reduced risk of overall breast cancer in the entire sample (HR=0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-1.00). Results of race/ethnicity-stratified analyses for TL GRS and overall breast cancer risk were not significant. The TL GRS was independently associated with decreased risk of ER-negative, PR-positive, and HER2-positive breast cancer risk in the entire sample (HR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.71-0.94, HR=0.94, 95% CI: 0.89-0.99, and HR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.79-0.99, respectively). Similarly, the TL GRS was associated with a reduced risk of ER-negative breast cancer in AA (HR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.64-0.97) and independently with PR-positive and HER2-positive breast cancer risk in HA (HR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.75-0.97 and HR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.58-0.99, respectively). Adjustment for other covariates did not influence hazards.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that higher TL GRS is associated with reduced risk of overall breast cancer and with the development of specific breast cancer subtypes, such as ER negativity and/or PR and HER2 positivity. While our focus on GWAS-implicated SNPs may not encompass the full spectrum of genes involved in TL, further studies into the potential mechanism for shorter TL and reduced breast cancer risk are needed.

Citation Format: Laurie Grieshober, Jean Wactawski-Wende, Rachael Hageman Blair, Lina Mu, Leah Preus, Jing Nie, Jiali Han, Jaymie R. Meliker, Thomas Rohan, Heather M. Ochs-Balcom. Telomere length genetic risk score is associated with breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1288. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1288