The Prognostic Significance of TERT Locus Polymorphism (rs36115365) in Surgically Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Objective: Telomere length is an important factor for the development of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC), and current articles focused on telomere associated genes. We studied the clinicopathological and prognostic implications of rs36115365 polymorphism of the TERT-CLPTM1L locus in NSCLC. The association between rs36115365 and telomere length was investigated in 176 NSCLCs.

Methods: DNA was extracted from NSCLC tissues and polymorphism and telomere length were analyzed.

Results: The rs36115365 polymorphism showed the following frequencies according to the genotype: G/G in 81.8% of the patients, G/C in 14.2%, and C/C in 4.0%. Average telomere length in the tumor tissues were 3.06-fold longer than telomeres in paired non-tumor tissues (SD=1.87), and telomere length was not significantly different according to rs36115365 (p=0.134). The rs36115365 polymorphism did not have any relationships with clinicopathological characteristics. A poor overall survival result was found in NSCLC with Callele carriers than that with G/G allele (p=0.034). However, disease free survival rate was not different statistically (p=0.938).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that rs36115365 may contribute to the progression of NSCLC.