Discriminating association of a common telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter polymorphism with telomere parameters in non-small cell lung cancer with or without epidermal growth factor receptor mutation

• Published in: European journal of cancer (1990) 2019-10, Vol.120, p.10-19
• Main Authors: Yuan, Ping, Huang, Sha, Bao, Fei-Chao, Cao, Jin-Lin, Sheng, Hong-Xu, Shi, Liang, Lv, Wang, Hu, Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Epidermal growth factor; Epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFR); Epidermal growth factor receptors; Gene expression; Gene polymorphism; Growth factors; Impact analysis; Lung cancer; Mutation; Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Non-small cell lung carcinoma; Nucleotides; Parameters; Polymorphism; RNA-directed DNA polymerase; rs2853669 single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs2853669 SNP); Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Small cell lung carcinoma; Survival; Survival outcome; Telomerase; Telomerase reverse transcriptase; Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT); Telomere length; Therapeutic applications; Tumors
• ISSN: 0959-8049; 1879-0852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2019.06.024

The role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways in regulating telomerase is increasingly being recognised. We analysed the impact of rs2853669 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on telomere parameters and its prognostic value for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with or without EGFR mutation. The association of rs2853669 with telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) mRNA level and relative telomere length (RTL) was analysed using resected tumour samples from 250 NSCLC patients. We also investigated the patients’ clinical outcomes with a median follow-up of 57 months (2–99 months). The rs2853669 T/C allele was significantly associated with lower TERT mRNA expression (versus C/C and versus T/T; p