title: TERT promoter mutations in primary and secondary glioblastomas.
abstract: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is up-regulated in a variety of human neoplasms. Mutations in the core promoter region of the TERT gene, which increases promoter activity, have been reported in melanomas and a variety of human neoplasms, including gliomas. In the present study, we screened for TERT promoter mutations by direct DNA sequencing in a population-based collection of 358 glioblastomas. TERT promoter mutations (C228T, C250T) were detected in 55 % glioblastomas analysed. Of these, 73 % had a C228T mutation, and 27 % had a C250T mutation; only one glioblastoma had both C228T and C250T mutations. TERT promoter mutations were significantly more frequent in primary (IDH1 wild-type) glioblastomas (187/322; 58 %) than in secondary (IDH1 mutated) glioblastomas (10/36, 28 %; P = 0.0056). They showed significant inverse correlations with IDH1 mutations (P = 0.0056) and TP53 mutations (P = 0.043), and a significant positive correlation with EGFR amplification (P = 0.048). Glioblastoma patients with TERT mutations showed a shorter survival than those without TERT mutations in univariate analysis (median, 9.3 vs. 10.5 months; P = 0.015) and multivariate analysis after adjusting for age and gender (HR 1.38, 95 % CI 1.01-1.88, P = 0.041). However, TERT mutations had no significant impact on patients' survival in multivariate analysis after further adjusting for other genetic alterations, or when primary and secondary glioblastomas were separately analysed. These results suggest that the prognostic value of TERT mutations for poor survival is largely due to their inverse correlation with IDH1 mutations, which are a significant prognostic marker of better survival in patients with secondary glioblastomas.
authors: Section of Molecular Pathology, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372, Lyon, France.
authors: Naosuke
authors: N
authors: Nonoguchi
authors: Takashi
authors: T
authors: Ohta
authors: Ji-Eun
authors: JE
authors: Oh
authors: Young-Ho
authors: YH
authors: Kim
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Kleihues
authors: Hiroko
authors: H
authors: Ohgaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011379:Prognosis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase; C543588:IDH1 protein, human; D019098:Telomerase