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Abstract #161857

H. Dean Hosgood, MPH¹, Min Shen, PhD², and Qing Lan, MD, PhD². (1) Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University School of Public Health, 60 College St, P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, 203.215.3275, dean.hosgood@yale.edu, (2) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Blvd, MSC 7240, Bethesda, MD 20892

Telomeres, the DNA-protein structures at the end of each chromosome, decrease in length with each cell replication. Telomere length is an indicator of genomic stability that may be associated with cancer risk. We used sputum samples from a population-based case-control study in Xuan Wei, China (122 cases; 122 controls), where lung cancer mortality is the highest in China and smoky coal is used for in-home heating and cooking, to test the hypothesis that short telomere length is associated with lung cancer risk. Using unconditional logistic regression, the shortest tertile of telomere length was associated with a non-significant increased risk of lung cancer (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 0.8 – 3.2), when adjusted for age, gender, smoking status, and smoky coal use. Our results suggest that short telomere lengths may be associated with risk of lung cancer. However, larger sample sizes are needed to substantiate this finding.

Learning Objectives:

• Define the importance of telomeres, telomere length, and indoor air pollution from domestic fuels to human health.
• Discuss the possible associations between lung cancer risk and domestic fuels.
• Recognize potential environmental interactions with biological samples in lung cancer patients.

Keywords: Indoor Environment, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.