title: A tandem repeat of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and risk of breast cancer development and metastasis in Chinese women.
abstract: Telomerase reactivation, which prevents telomere shortening and maintains cell viability, is crucial for the continued growth or progression of cancer cells. A minisatellite tandem repeat, MNS16A, located in the downstream of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene was recently identified and reported to have an effect on hTERT expression and telomerase activity. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the MNS16A variant is associated with risk of breast cancer development and metastasis. We genotyped MNS16A variant in hTERT in a case-control study of 1029 histologically confirmed breast cancer patients and 1107 cancer-free controls in Chinese women. The variant genotypes (302/271, 302/243 and 243/243) of MNS16A were associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15-1.96], compared with the wild-type 302/302 genotype. In stratified analyses, we found that the 302/271 genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of axillary lymph nodes metastasis (adjusted OR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.05-4.33) compared with wild-type 302/302 genotype. These findings indicate that the MNS16A variant in the hTERT gene may contribute to the risk of breast cancer development and metastasis in Chinese women.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Zhanwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jinhai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Shui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xuechen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xinru
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongbing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase