A significant shortening of telomeres after radiotherapy was observed in prostate cancer patients, indicating a potential contribution to accelerated cellular aging.
Key Findings
Results
Leukocyte relative telomere length (RTL) showed significant reduction at 15 months post-radiotherapy compared to baseline and all earlier time points.
RTL was significantly reduced at 15 months post-radiotherapy compared to baseline (p < 0.001), end of radiotherapy (p = 0.001), and 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001)
Mean RTL values were 0.65 ± 0.34 at baseline, 0.62 ± 0.31 at the end of radiotherapy, 0.67 ± 0.43 at 3-month follow-up, and 0.55 ± 0.26 at 15-month follow-up
Paired-Samples T-Test was used for comparisons between time points
A total of 314 prostate cancer patients treated with curative radiotherapy were included in the prospective study
Results
RTL transiently increased at the 3-month follow-up before declining substantially by 15 months post-radiotherapy.
Mean RTL at 3-month follow-up (0.67 ± 0.43) was slightly higher than both baseline (0.65 ± 0.34) and end-of-radiotherapy values (0.62 ± 0.31)
The largest decline in RTL was observed between the 3-month follow-up and the 15-month follow-up, dropping from 0.67 ± 0.43 to 0.55 ± 0.26
The 15-month RTL value was the lowest recorded across all four time points
Methods
Leukocyte relative telomere length was measured prospectively at four time points: before radiotherapy, at the end of radiotherapy, and at 3 and 15 months post-radiotherapy.
RTL was measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR) in peripheral blood samples
The study included 314 patients treated with curative radiotherapy for prostate cancer
The study design was prospective
Background
Ionizing radiation from radiotherapy may accelerate telomere attrition, thereby promoting aging-related changes.
Telomeres are described as 'protective protein-bound DNA repeat structures at the end of chromosomes, which play a critical role in maintaining chromosomal stability'
Telomere length is considered 'a potential biomarker of biological aging' because telomeres progressively shorten with each somatic-cell division
The authors observed 'significant shortening of telomeres after radiotherapy indicating a potential contribution to accelerated cellular aging'