Alternative lengthening of telomeres and survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme

The LancetPublished 1 March 2003

Vicky Hakin-Smith, DA Jellinek, David T. Levy, Thomas Carroll, Mario Teo, Timperley Wr

DOI10.1016/s0140-6736(03)12681-5

Source URL

Citations266

SJR quartileQ1

SJR score12.11

SNIP22.72

TL;DR

It is concluded that ALT is a prognostic indicator for patients with glioblastoma multiforme and Cox's regression analysis showed that this association is independent of age.

Abstract

Despite advances in the molecular pathogenesis of glioblastoma multiforme, no reliable prognostic markers have been identified. We analysed telomerase activity and telomere lengths in glioblastoma multiformes from 77 patients. 19 patients (25%) had tumours with the alternative-lengthening-of-telomere (ALT) phenotype. Median survival for patients with this phenotype was 542 days (95% CI 114-970) compared with 247 days (224-270) for glioblastoma multiformes with normal telomeres (p=0.0003). Cox's regression analysis showed that this association is independent of age. In patients with non-ALT tumours, telomerase activity did not affect survival (median 287 [199-375] vs 236 [230-242] days, p=0.275). We conclude that ALT is a prognostic indicator for patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Keywords

MedicineBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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