Levels Of Oxidative Stress And Telomeres In Lynch Syndrome-Associated Malignancies.

582 Background: Lynch Syndrome (LS) is caused by germline mutations in mismatch repair genes (MMR) genes which are critical in maintaining cellular integrity. Failure of the MMR pathway in LS culminates in the hypermutable phenotype of Microsatellite Instability. LS confers an increased risk of malignancy of which colorectal cancer (CRC) is most common. Carriers exhibit significant phenotypic variation in the age of onset of malignancy which cannot be predicted. Telomere length attrition is considered an early step in carcinogenesis and may be accelerated by oxidative stress. We investigated an association between relative telomere length (RTL) and levels of DNA oxidative damage in LS affected carriers (AC), unaffected carriers (UAC) and in patients with MMR- proficient colorectal cancer (MPC). Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patients within each group. DNA was extracted and RTL measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Real-Time PCR was used to quantitate ex...