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

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 C allele 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.