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Risk of renal cell carcinoma in relation to telomere length and mtDNA copy number in peripheral blood lymphocytes

Principal Investigator
Name
Jonathan Hofmann
Degrees
-
Institution
NCI, DCEG, OEEB
Position Title
-
Email
About this CDAS Project
Study
PLCO (Learn more about this study)
Project ID
2009-0549
Initial CDAS Request Approval
Dec 15, 2009
Title
Risk of renal cell carcinoma in relation to telomere length and mtDNA copy number in peripheral blood lymphocytes
Summary
Recent case-control findings suggest that shortened telomere length and low mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) are associated with an increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). These findings raise the possibility that these measurements may represent markers of RCC susceptibility; however, the use of PBLs collected after RCC diagnosis limits the interpretation of these findings as evidence of causation. To our knowledge, neither marker has been evaluated with respect to RCC risk in a study with prospective sample collection. We propose to conduct a nested case-control study (242 cases, 484 controls) to investigate the association of telomere length and mtDNA copy number with RCC risk using DNA extracted from PBLs in pre-diagnostic specimens collected within the screening arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Telomere length assays will be performed by the laboratory of Dr. Richard Cawthon at the University of Utah, and mtDNA copy number assays will be performed by the laboratory of Dr. Chin-San Liu at the Changhua Christian Hospital in Taiwan. A total of 350 ng of extracted DNA from each subject will be needed to perform these assays.
Aims

Telomere length and mtDNA copy number in PBLs are hypothesized biological markers related to the initiation and progression of cancer at various sites. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether telomere length and mtDNA copy number are associated with RCC risk. Specifically, we will: 1. Measure telomere length and mtDNA copy number using DNA extracted from pre-diagnostic specimens from RCC cases and individually matched controls; 2. Evaluate risk of RCC in relation to telomere length; and 3. Evaluate risk of RCC in relation to mtDNA copy number.

Collaborators

Qing Lan (NCI, DCEG )
Jonathan Hofmann (NCI, DCEG)
Mark Purdue (NCI, DCEG )
Dean Hosgood (NCI, DCEG )
Wong-Ho Chow (NCI, DCEG )
Lee Moore (NCI, DCEG )
Nathaniel Rothman (NCI, DCEG )
Mark Purdue (NCI)

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