A study of telomere length among rural Latina breast cancer survivors participating in a peer-delivered stress management intervention: Nuevo Amanecer-II
By: Alexander Orellana
Department: Physiology
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Leticia Márquez-Magaña and Dr. Cathy Samayoa (UCSF)
Latinas experience breast cancer health disparities which may be due in part to experiences of chronic stress. Stress has been shown to accelerate telomere shortening, a marker of premature biological aging. Short telomeres are associated with negative health outcomes and predict poorer cancer survival. Studies of telomere length among Latina breast cancer survivors are lacking. To: a) characterize relative telomere length among Latina breast cancer survivors; and b) compare women who received a peer-delivered stress-management intervention and women in a wait-list control group on telomere length changes at baseline vs. 6-months follow-up. Latina breast cancer survivors (N=103) from rural communities who participated in the Nuevo Amanecer-II RCT study were asked to provide saliva samples for DNA analysis. Telomere length was used to assess cellular aging. DNA was extracted from buccal cells and quantitative polymerase real-time chain reaction (qPCR) was used to examine the relative telomere to single-copy gene (T/S) ratio. At baseline, 101 of 103 participants provided samples; 85 participants provided samples at the 6-month follow-up. The mean age was 56 years, 78% had a high school education or less, and 37% reported financial hardship. Preliminary analysis (n=51) shows a mean T/S ratio of 1.24 (Range 0.66-1.86) at baseline and a mean T/S ratio of 1.26 (Range 0.72-2.41) at follow-up. This is the first study to measure telomere length among rural Latina breast cancer survivors. These data show that Latina breast cancer survivors have short telomere lengths, which are indicative of premature biological aging. Findings from this study will uncover the impact of a peer-delivered stress management intervention on telomere length among a vulnerable population. Interventions that can mitigate stress-induced telomere length attrition have the potential to decrease breast cancer health disparities.