Whether there is an association between measured and genetically predicted telomere length and melanoma mortality is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that measured and genetically predicted telomere length is associated with mortality after a melanoma diagnosis. We followed 2,101 patients with melanoma from hospital clinics and the general population for risk of death for up to 26 years. All had telomere length measured in DNA from leukocytes, and 2052 of these were genotyped for the three single nucleotide polymorphisms rs7726159 (TERT), rs1317082 (TERC), and rs2487999 (OBFC1); all three genotypes are associated with telomere length and combined into an allele count from 0 to 6. For each telomere-lengthening allele, the hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality in the age-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted Cox analysis were 1.12 (95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.23) and 1.11 (1.01–1.23). However, for each standard deviation increase in measured telomere length, HR for mortality was 0.97 (0.88–1.08). In conclusion, in more than 2000 melanoma patients from hospital clinics and from the general population, genetically predicted long telomeres were associated with increased mortality, but measured leukocyte telomere length was not.

中文翻译：

---

长端粒的遗传易感性与黑色素瘤后死亡率增加有关：一项针对来自医院诊所和普通人群的 2101 名黑色素瘤患者的研究

测量和遗传预测的端粒长度与黑色素瘤死亡率之间是否存在关联尚不清楚。我们检验了测量和遗传预测的端粒长度与黑色素瘤诊断后死亡率相关的假设。我们跟踪了来自医院诊所和普通人群的 2,101 名黑色素瘤患者长达 26 年的死亡风险。所有人都在来自白细胞的 DNA 中测量了端粒长度，其中 2052 个被基因分型为三个单核苷酸多态性 rs7726159 ( TERT )、rs1317082 ( TERC ) 和 rs2487999 ( OBFC1); 所有三种基因型都与端粒长度相关，并组合成一个从 0 到 6 的等位基因计数。对于每个端粒延长等位基因，年龄调整和多变量调整 Cox 分析中死亡率的风险比 (HR) 为 1.12 (95%置信区间：1.02–1.23) 和 1.11 (1.01–1.23)。然而，对于测量的端粒长度每增加一个标准偏差，死亡率的 HR 为 0.97 (0.88-1.08)。总之，在来自医院诊所和普通人群的 2000 多名黑色素瘤患者中，基因预测的长端粒与死亡率增加有关，但测量的白细胞端粒长度与此无关。