title: Lack of TERT Promoter Mutations in Human B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
abstract: Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are a heterogeneous group of immune cell neoplasms that comprise molecularly distinct lymphoma subtypes. Recent work has identified high frequency promoter point mutations in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene of different cancer types, including melanoma, glioma, liver and bladder cancer.TERTpromoter mutations appear to correlate with increased TERT expression and telomerase activity in these cancers. In contrast, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer rarely demonstrate mutations in this region of the gene.TERTpromoter mutation prevalence in NHL has not been thoroughly tested thus far. We screened 105 B-cell lymphoid malignancies encompassing nine NHL subtypes and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, forTERTpromoter mutations. Our results suggest thatTERTpromoter mutations are rare or absent in most NHL. Thus, the classicalTERTpromoter mutations may not play a major oncogenic role in TERT expression and telomerase activation in NHL.
authors: Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA. glam5@jhu.edu.
authors: Gary
authors: G
authors: Lam
authors: Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Baltimore, MD 212105, USA. RXian@mednet.ucla.edu.|Department of Pathology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. RXian@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors: Rena R
authors: RR
authors: Xian
authors: Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA. yli9@jhmi.edu.
authors: Yingying
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Baltimore, MD 212105, USA. kburns@jhmi.edu.
authors: Kathleen H
authors: KH
authors: Burns
authors: Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA. klb@jhu.edu.
authors: Karen L
authors: KL
authors: Beemon
keywords: TERT promoter; Telomerase; non-Hodgkin lymphoma