TERT rs2853676 polymorphisms correlate with glioma prognosis in Chinese population

// Xue He 1, 2, 3, * , Yahui Wei 4, * , Zhengshuai Chen 5 , Xikai Zhu 1, 2, 3 , Lifeng Ma 1, 2, 3 , Ning Zhang 5 , Yuan Zhang 1, 2, 3 , Longli Kang 1, 2, 3 , Dongya Yuan 1, 2, 3 , Zongyong Zhang 6 , Tianbo Jin 1, 2, 3, 5 1 Key Laboratory for Molecular Genetic Mechanisms and Intervention Research on High Altitude Disease of Tibet Autonomous Region, School of Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang, 712082 Shaanxi, China 2 Key Laboratory for Basic Life Science Research of Tibet Autonomous Region, School of Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang, 712082 Shaanxi, China 3 Key Laboratory of High Altitude Environment and Gene Related to Disease of Tibet Ministry of Education, School of Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang 712082, Shaanxi, China 4 Central Hospital of Xianyang, Xianyang 712000, Shannxi, China 5 National Engineering Research Center for Miniaturized Detection Systems, School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069 Shaanxi, China 6 Life Science Research Centre of Taishan Medical University, Taian, 271016 Shangdong, China * Joint first authors Correspondence to: Zongyong Zhang, email: zongyongzhanghust@163.com Tianbo Jin, email: jtianbo@126.com Keywords: glioma, TERT, rs2853676, overall survival, progress-free survival Received: May 30, 2016 Accepted: September 02, 2016 Published: September 16, 2016 ABSTRACT High rates of recurrence and the lack of effective treatments contribute to the poor prognosis of patients with glioma. There is therefore an urgent need for an easily detectable biomarker to facilitate early detection. In this study, we explored the association between TERT rs2853676 genetic polymorphisms and the prognosis of Chinese glioma patients. A total of 481 glioma patients at the Tangdu Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University in China were included in this study. The overall survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic factors were determined through multivariate Cox regression analysis. The overall survival (OS) rates of one, two, and three years were 31%, 10.3%, and 7.5%, respectively. The progress-free survival (PFS) rates of one, two, and three years were 15.7%, 7.3%, and 4.7%, respectively. The genotype “A/G” of TERT rs2857676 decreased the PFS rate (hazard ratios [HR] = 0.824; P = 0.059). The genotype “A/G (HR = 0.803; 95% CI, 0.656 – 0.982; P = 0.032)” and “A/A + A/G” decreased the recurrence rate compared to the genotype G/G (HR = 0.818; 95% CI, 0.675-0.99; P = 0.040). Our study indicates that TERT rs2853676 polymorphisms correlate with glioma survival and recurrence rates in a Chinese population, which suggests that they could potentially serve as prognostic markers in glioma patients.