Association between telomere length and survival in cancer patients: a meta-analysis and review of literature

The relationship between telomere length and cancer survival has been widely studied. To gain a deeper insight, we reviewed the published studies. A total of 29 studies evaluated telomere length in the peripheral blood; 22 studies evaluated telomere length in the tumor tissue. First, in the peripheral blood studies, for solid tumor patients with shortened telomere length, the combined hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality and tumor progression were 1.21 (95%CI, 1.10–1.32) and 1.71 (95%CI, 1.37–2.13), respectively. Meanwhile, in hematology malignancy, the combined HRs for mortality and tumor progression were 2.83 (95%CI, 2.14–3.74) and 2.65 (95%CI, 2.18–3.22), respectively. Second, in the studies that use tumor tissue, for patients with shortened telomeres, the combined HRs for mortality and tumor progression were 1.26 (95%CI, 0.95–1.66) and 1.65 (95%CI, 1.26–2.15), respectively. In the studies that calculate the telomere length ratios of tumor tissue to adjacent normal mucosa, for patients with lower telomere length ratios, the combined HRs were 0.66 (95%CI, 0.53–0.83) and 0.74 (95%CI, 0.41–1.32) for mortality and tumor progression, respectively. In conclusion, shortened telomere in peripheral blood and tumor tissue might indicate poor survival for cancer patients. However, by calculating the telomere length ratios of tumor tissue to adjacent normal mucosa, the lower ratio might indicate better survival.