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Role of the functional MNS 16A VNTR ‐243 variant of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene in progression and response to therapy of patients with non‐Hodgkin's B‐cell lymphomas
Author(s) -
Wysoczanska B.,
Wrobel T.,
Dobrzynska O.,
Mazur G.,
BoguniaKubik K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of immunogenetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1744-313X
pISSN - 1744-3121
DOI - 10.1111/iji.12182
Subject(s) - reverse transcriptase , telomerase , telomerase reverse transcriptase , gene , biology , medicine , genetics , rna
Summary MNS 16A is a functional polymorphic tandem repeat within the human telomerase reverse transcriptase ( hTERT ) gene. To investigate whether any of the MNS 16A repeats represents a genetic risk factor for NHL susceptibility, progression of or response to therapy in 75 patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas ( NHL s) and 126 healthy individuals were genotyped using the PCR ‐ VNTR technique. A slightly higher frequency of the MNS 16A VNTR ‐243 variant was detected among patients who did not respond to treatment ( NR ) as compared to patients with complete or partial remission (0.83 vs. 0.51, P = 0.055). NR patients more frequently developed aggressive than indolent type of the disease (0.92 vs. 0.41, P = 0.001). The VNTR ‐243 allele was more frequently detected among patients with an intermediate–high/high International Prognostic Index ( IPI 3–4) score ( P = 0.063), especially in patients with advanced age and IPI 3–4 ( P = 0.040). In multivariate analysis, higher IPI 3–4 score ( OR = 11.364, P = 0.051) and aggressive type of the disease ( OR = 18.182, P = 0.012) were found to be independent genetic markers associated with nonresponse to treatment. Presence of the MNS 16A VNTR ‐243 variant also strongly tended to affect the risk of a less favourable response to therapy and was more frequently present among nonresponders ( OR = 5.848, P = 0.059). Genetic variation within the hTERT gene may affect the progression and treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders.