Association of Relative Leucocyte Telomere Length and Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (TERT, TRF1, TNKS2) in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Paulius Vaiciulis; Rasa Liutkeviciene; Vykintas Liutkevicius; Alvita Vilkeviciute; Greta Gedvilaite; Virgilijus Uloza

doi:10.21873/cgp.20202

Association of Relative Leucocyte Telomere Length and Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (TERT, TRF1, TNKS2) in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Cancer Genomics Proteomics. 2020 Jul-Aug;17(4):431-439. doi: 10.21873/cgp.20202.

Authors

Paulius Vaiciulis¹, Rasa Liutkeviciene², Vykintas Liutkevicius³, Alvita Vilkeviciute², Greta Gedvilaite², Virgilijus Uloza³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania paulius.vaiciulis@lsmuni.lt.
² Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Abstract

Background/aim: The study aimed to evaluate associations of relative leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and polymorphisms of telomere length-associated genes TERT (rs2736098), TERT-CLPTM1L (rs401681), TRF1 (rs1545827, rs10107605) and TNKS2 (rs10509637, rs10509639) in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

Materials and methods: The study consisted of 300 patients with LSCC and 369 healthy control subjects. Genotyping and relative LTL measuring were carried out using qPCR.

Results: Relative LTL was statistically significantly shorter in the G3 (tumor differentiation grade) subgroup of patients with LSCC compared to the G1 and G2 subgroups. Significant differences were found in genotype distributions of TERT rs401681 and TNKS2 rs10509639 between the study groups. TERT rs401681 C/T and T/T genotypes were associated with approximately 30% decreased odds of LSCC development.

Conclusion: LTL was shorter in the G3 subgroup compared to the G2 and G1 subgroups of LSCC patients. TERT rs401681 and its C/T and T/T genotypes were associated with decreased odds of overall LSCC development.

Keywords: Leucocyte telomeres; TERT; TNKS2; TRF1; gene polymorphisms; laryngeal carcinoma.

MeSH terms

Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
Case-Control Studies
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Head and Neck Neoplasms / genetics
Head and Neck Neoplasms / pathology
Humans
Leukocytes / metabolism
Leukocytes / pathology
Male
Middle Aged
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*
Prognosis
Shelterin Complex
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck / genetics
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck / pathology*
Tankyrases / genetics*
Telomerase / genetics*
Telomere Homeostasis / genetics*
Telomere-Binding Proteins / genetics*

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor
Shelterin Complex
TERF1 protein, human
Telomere-Binding Proteins
TNKS2 protein, human
Tankyrases
TERT protein, human
Telomerase