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Circulating TERT serves as the novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for the resectable NSCLC

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is a catalytic subunit of telomerase and required for cancer development. This study aims to reveal its clinical utility for diagnosis and prognosis of resectable NSCLC. METHODS: TERT was quantitatively evaluated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from 69 patients before and after the surgery. The prognostic value was evaluated by disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Circulating TERT in NSCLC patients were significantly higher than that in the healthy group, possessing the AUC of 0.90. Importantly, TERT change between pre- and post- operation was significantly correlated with OS and DFS (p = 0.022, p = 0.046 respectively), acted as the independent prognostic factors for DFS and OS, indicating it can serve as the promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). CONCLUSIONS: TERT change between pre- and post- resection can serve as the promising biomarker for prognosis of resectable NSCLC.

Source: Cancer Cell International

DOI: 10.1186/s12935-024-03605-w