Affiliations: [a] Department of Thyroid and Vascular Surgery, Jingzhou Central Hospital, Jingzhou, Hubei, China | [b] Department of Cardiology, Jingzhou Central Hospital, Jingzhou, Hubei, China
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Long Gong, Department of Thyroid and Vascular Surgery, Jingzhou Central Hospital, No.60 Jingzhong Road, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou 434020, Hubei, China. Tel./Fax: +86 0716 8438309; E-mail:gonglong_gl@163.com
Note: [1] Long Gong and Ying Xu both contributed equally to this research.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The study explored the association between
rs10069690C/T and rs2736100G/T of human telomerase reverse transcriptase
(hTERT) gene, and the prognosis of thyroid cancer. METHODS: The study had 452 thyroid cancer patients recruited as case group who
hospitalized in Jingzhou Central Hospital from January 2001 to June 2004 and
452 healthy people recruited as control group at the same area. The hTERT gene
polymorphisms at rs10069690 C/T and rs2736100 G/T were tested by polymerase
chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.
The association between patients' life quality and hTERT gene polymorphisms six
months after surgery was evaluated based on the Cancer patients' quality of
life index rating scale. RESULTS: There were
statistical differences in genotype and allele frequencies of rs10069690 C/T
between the case group and control group (both P < 0.05). An association
between rs10069690C/T polymorphism and an increased risk of thyroid cancer
was shown by logistic regression analysis (CT vs. CC, OR = 1.333, 95%CI = 1.006-1.766, P = 0.045; TT vs. CC,
OR = 1.910, 95%CI = 1.084-3.367, P = 0.023; CT + TT vs. CC, OR = 2.246, 95%CI = 1.078-1.840, P = 0.006; T vs. C,
OR = 1.376, 95%CI = 1.104-1.715, P = 0.004). Genotype frequency of
rs2736100G/T between the two groups had no statistical differences (P >
0.05). After stratification according to age, T stage, tumor size and tumor
node metastasis (TNM) stage, the distribution frequencies of CC genotype and
CT + TT genotype of rs10069690C/T showed significant difference (P < 0.05). The
life quality of patients with CC genotype was better than that of patients
with CT $+$ TT genotype. The results of Cox regression model multifactor
analysis showed that age, T stage, tumor size and rs10069690C/T were
independent risk factors of thyroid cancer prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: hTERT gene polymorphism at rs10069690C/T is
associated with the risk and prognosis of thyroid cancer, but hTERT gene
polymorphism at rs2736100G/T is not.
Keywords: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), thyroid cancer, gene polymorphism, prognosis, rs10069690C/T, rs2736100G/T, life quality evaluation
