The TERT hypermethylated oncologic region predicts recurrence and survival in pancreatic cancer

Inês Faleiro; Joana Dias Apolónio; Aryeh J Price; Ramon Andrade De Mello; Vânia Palma Roberto; Uri Tabori; Pedro Castelo-Branco

doi:10.2217/fon-2017-0167

The TERT hypermethylated oncologic region predicts recurrence and survival in pancreatic cancer

Future Oncol. 2017 Oct;13(23):2045-2051. doi: 10.2217/fon-2017-0167. Epub 2017 Oct 11.

Authors

Inês Faleiro^{1

2

3}, Joana Dias Apolónio^{1

2

3}, Aryeh J Price⁴, Ramon Andrade De Mello^{1

3}, Vânia Palma Roberto^{1

2

3}, Uri Tabori⁵, Pedro Castelo-Branco^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences & Medicine, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Edifício 2, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
² Centre for Biomedical Research (CBMR), University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
³ Algarve Biomedical Center, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal.
⁴ Division of Biology & Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁵ Arthur & Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Center, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 29019414
DOI: 10.2217/fon-2017-0167

Abstract

Aim: We explore the biomarker potential of the TERT hypermethylated oncologic region (THOR) in pancreatic cancer.

Materials & methods: We assessed the methylation status of THOR using the cancer genome atlas data on the cohort of pancreatic cancer (n = 193 patients).

Results: THOR was significantly hypermethylated in pancreatic tumor tissue when compared with the normal tissue used as control (p < 0.0001). Also, THOR hypermethylation could distinguish early stage I disease from normal tissue and was associated with worse prognosis.

Discussion: We found that THOR is hypermethylated in pancreatic tumor tissue when compared with normal tissue and that THOR methylation correlates with TERT expression in tumor samples.

Conclusion: Our preliminary findings support the diagnostic and prognostic values of THOR in pancreatic cancer.

Keywords: DNA methylation; THOR; pancreatic cancer; telomerase.

MeSH terms

Biomarkers, Tumor*
DNA Methylation*
Female
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Humans
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Male
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / genetics*
Pancreatic Neoplasms / genetics*
Pancreatic Neoplasms / mortality
Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology*
Prognosis
Promoter Regions, Genetic
Telomerase / genetics*

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor
TERT protein, human
Telomerase