Telomeric repeat fragment lengths are not correlated to histological grading in 85 breast cancers.

The mean telomeric repeat fragment (TRF) lengths of 85 breast cancer samples were determined. The TRF length varied between 7260 bp and 14570 bp (average 11370 bp) reflecting a unimodal distribution. There was no significant correlation between TRF length and the histological grade of the tumor. Neither were there differences in telomeric length between different histological types of tumors, in particular lobular and ductal types, nor correlations between TRF length and age of patient, tumor volume, lymph node status, or steroid receptor status. These results contradict the hypothesis that the telomere repeat fragment sizes represent limiting or promoting factors for the growth of breast cancer.