Telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes and risk of renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 3.8% of all new cancer cases in US and its incidence rate has been increased over the last several decades (1). Although a few clinical tests, GFR (glomerular filtration rate) and creatinine level, are available for predicting renal function, the typical detection methods for RCC are abdominal imaging, such as ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, then confirmed by histological evaluation (2). Similar to other cancers, early detection of RCC is a significant challenge. Therefore, identification of biomarkers is critical to improve current management of RCC