Cited by 615Telomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceCancer-related molecular mechanisms researchCancer Genomics and Diagnostics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 72 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Systematic analysis of telomere length and somatic alterations in 31 cancer types

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Abstract

Cancer cells survive cellular crisis through telomere maintenance mechanisms. We report telomere lengths in 18,430 samples, including tumors and non-neoplastic samples, across 31 cancer types. Telomeres were shorter in tumors than in normal tissues and longer in sarcomas and gliomas than in other cancers. Among 6,835 cancers, 73% expressed telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), which was associated with TERT point mutations, rearrangements, DNA amplifications and transcript fusions and predictive of telomerase activity. TERT promoter methylation provided an additional deregulatory TERT expression mechanism. Five percent of cases, characterized by undetectable TERT expression and alterations in ATRX or DAXX, demonstrated elongated telomeres and increased telomeric repeat-containing RNA (TERRA). The remaining 22% of tumors neither expressed TERT nor harbored alterations in ATRX or DAXX. In this group, telomere length positively correlated with TP53 and RB1 mutations. Our analysis integrates TERT abnormalities, telomerase activity and genomic alterations with telomere length in cancer.

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Metadata

Authors
Barthel, F. P., Wei, W., Tang, M., Martinez-Ledesma, E., Hu, X., Amin, S. B., Akdemir, K. C., Seth, S., Song, X., Wang, Q., Lichtenberg, T., Hu, J., Zhang, J., Zheng, S., & Verhaak, R. G. W.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
  • Nationwide Children's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
  • Zheng, Siyuan
  • Verhaak, Roel G W
Venue
Nature Genetics
Published
2017-01-30
Volume
49
Issue
3
Pages
349-357
ISSN
  • 1061-4036 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-1718
OpenAlex
W2581179619
Cited by
614
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 72 · 2023: 85 · 2022: 96 · 2021: 92 · 2020: 80 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 22
FWCI
38.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Genetics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • The Mouseion at the JAXlibrary (Jackson Laboratory) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (R140606)
  • McGill University
  • Broad Institute
  • National Institutes of Health
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (P30CA 16672)
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA190121, P01CA085878, U24CA143883, P30CA016672, P50CA127001, P30CA034196)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
Keywords
telomere length, telomere maintenance, telomerase reverse transcriptase, TERT mutation, alternative lengthening of telomeres, ATRX, DAXX, Terra, TP53 mutation, RB1 mutation, sarcoma, glioma, cancer genomics
MeSH terms
Glioma, Humans, Neoplasms, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Sarcoma, Tumor Suppressor Protein p53, Telomere, Point Mutation, Telomerase, DNA Methylation, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases, Retinoblastoma Binding Proteins

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