Telomere length and TERT polymorphisms as biomarkers in asbestos-related diseases

Abstract

Asbestos exposure has been proposed as a risk factor for shorter telomere length. The aim of our study was to investigate whether telomere length in leukocytes and hTERT genetic polymorphisms may serve as potential biomarkers for the risk of developing asbestos-related diseases and as biomarkers of progression and chemotherapy response rate in malignant mesothelioma (MM).

Keywords

• malignant mesothelioma
• asbestos
• telomere length
• htert polymorphisms