Doherty JA, et al. - Given a link between short telomere length and increased overall mortality, but less clarity on the link with cancer mortality in accumulating evidence, researchers investigated if telomere length (global, and chromosome arm 5p- and 13q-specific) is associated with lung cancer mortality among cases from the Beta Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial of heavy smokers. Using adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, all-cause and lung cancer-specific mortality were assessed for lung cancer overall and by histotype. In this first study to examine telomere length and mortality in lung cancer cases by histotype, short pre-diagnosis telomere length was shown to be related to increased risk of death from small cell lung cancer among heavy smokers who developed lung cancer.