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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
Published on: April 13, 2015
Association of telomerase gene hTERT polymorphism and malignant gliomas
Catherine Carpentier1, Julie Lejeune, Florent Gros
1INSERM, U711, Biologie des Interactions Neurones & Glie, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Faculté de Médecine, and Service de Neurologie Mazarin, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris 13, France.
Background:
The MNS16A polymorphism is located in the downstream region of the hTERT gene and affects telomerase activity.
Methods:
MNS16A has been investigated as a potential risk factor and/or prognostic marker for malignant glioma in a cohort of 352 patients (205 glioblastoma, 147 anaplastic gliomas) and 305 controls.
Results:
The S ("short") allele (which results in a higher telomerase activity) was significantly more frequent in glioma patients compared to the control population (278/704=39.5% vs. 200/610=32.8%; P=0.012). The odd ratios were 1 for LL (taken as reference), 1.33 [0.96; 1.84] for SL and 2.05 [1.22; 3.44] for SS. However, in contrast to a previous report, no significant difference of survival was found between SS, LL and SL allelotypes.
Conclusion:
We found here the short allele of MNS16A more frequent in glioma patients, but it did not seem to be predictive of survival.
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