Telomere length in cervical exfoliated cells, interaction with HPV genotype, and cervical cancer occurrence among high‐risk HPV‐positive women

Background Although high‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) infection is recognized as the main cause of cervical cancer, only a minority of HPV‐infected women develop this malignancy. Increasing evidence suggests that alterations of telomere length might be implicated in carcinogenesis. However, the association between cervical cancer and telomere length remains unknown. Methods This case‐control study included 591 cervical cancer patients and 373 cancer‐free controls, all of whom were infected with HR‐HPV. Relative telomere length (RTL) in cervical cancer exfoliated cells was measured by quantitative PCR. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by logistic regression analysis. Results HPV16, 18, 52, and 58 were common in both case and control groups. The proportion of HPV16 infection tended to increase across the quartiles of RTL (Ptrend