OncoTargets and Therapy (Jun 2024)

Different Role of TRF1 and TRF2 Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers

  • Chae M,
  • Lee JH,
  • Park JH,
  • Keum DY,
  • Jung H,
  • Lee Y,
  • Lee DH

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 463 – 469

Abstract

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Mincheol Chae,1,* Jae-Ho Lee,2,* Jong Ho Park,2 Dong Yoon Keum,1 Hanna Jung,3 Youngok Lee,3 Deok Heon Lee3 1Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea; 2Department of Anatomy, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea; 3Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Jung-gu, 41944, Korea*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Deok Heon Lee, Tel +82-53-200-5665, Fax +82-53-426-4765, Email [email protected]: TRF1, TRF2, and TERT (Telomerase reverse transcriptase) are telomere-associated factors that regulate telomere length. Genetic changes in these genes may be associated with cancer pathogenesis; however, this relationship has not yet been comprehensively elucidated in lung cancer.Aim: : Exploring the clinicopathologic and prognostic values of TRF1, TRF2, and TERT mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).Methods: : The clinical significance of TRF1, TRF2, and TERT expression in 141 patients with NSCLC was investigated. Additionally, these findings were supported by the open big data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).Results: : TRF1 and TRF2 expression levels tended to be associated with smoking, and TERT expression was positively correlated with age. The survival analysis showed that TRF1 expression predicted a better prognosis for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), whereas TRF2 expression was associated with a shorter survival in adenocarcinoma. TCGA data also showed a better prognosis for SCC with TRF1 expression. However, the TRF2 results were not in agreement with our data.Conclusions: : We present the clinical and prognostic values of TRF1, TRF2, and TERT expression in NSCLC tissues and TCGA. Our findings suggest that TRF1 expression is a possible prognostic marker for NSCLC, particularly SCC.Keywords: TRF1, TRF2, TERT, telomere, lung cancer

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