Samavat H, et al. - In this prospective analysis of 14,305 middle-aged or older Chinese women from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, researchers examined the link between telomere length and risk of breast cancer. Following 12.3 years of follow-up, 442 incident breast cancer cases were detected in this population. They found a significant association of longer telomeres with a higher risk of breast cancer. This link was dose-dependent; a statistically significant 47% higher risk of breast cancer was observed in relation to the highest quartile of telomere length vs the lowest quartile of telomere length following the adjustment for age and other known risk factors for breast cancer. Overall, the presumption that longer telomeres may be a risk factor for breast cancer was supported.