Telomere length and carcinogenesis of human bronchial epithelium, study using tissue quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization

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Telomere lengths of the bronchial epithelium of 72 non-lung cancer adult autopsy cases and 24 surgically resected cases of lung squamous cell carcinoma were measured using Q-FISH method, and were expressed in normalized telomere:centromere ratios (NTCRs). The autopsied individuals included 27 current smokers (CuS), 33 never-smokers (NeS), 8 ex-smokers (ExS), and 4 unknown cases. The NTCRs of CuS, NeS and ExS were 1.515, 1.372 and 1.204, respectively. The bronchial epithelial telomeres of CuS were significantly longer than those of non-current smokers (NeS+ExS). The NTCRs of the bronchial epithelium of lung cancer cases and lung cancer tissue are 1.514 and 1.385, respectively. Our findings suggest that smoking causes telomeric elongation in the bronchial epithelium. The mechanism of carcinogenesis in smoking-related carcinomas is suggested to differ from that of many other carcinomas in which genetic instability due to aging-related telomeric shortening is considered to play a role.