Leukocyte Telomere Length Predicts Cancer Risk in Barrett's Esophagus.

The article focuses on a study which examined the hypothesis that leukocyte telomere length might be able to predict future risk of cancer using a cohort of patients with Barrett's esophagus, who are at increased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. It found that shorter telomeres were associated with increased esophageal adenocarcinoma risk and the association was significant when individually or simultaneously adjusted for age, gender, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, cigarette smoking, and waist-to-hip ratio.