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TERT Promoter Mutations and Tumor Persistence/Recurrence in Papillary Thyroid Cancer
Jae Kyung Myung1, Byung Kuk Kwak2, Jung Ah Lim3
1Department of Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Purpose:
A telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutation was identified in thyroid cancer. This TERT promoter mutation is thought to be a prognostic molecular marker, because its association with tumor aggressiveness, persistence/recurrence, and disease-specific mortality in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has been reported. In this study, we attempted to determine whether the impact of the TERT promoter mutation on PTC persistence/recurrence is independent of clinicopathological parameters.
Materials And Methods:
Using propensity score matching, 39 patients with PTC persistence or recurrence were matched with 35 patients without persistence or recurrence, with a similar age, sex, tumor size, multifocality, bilaterality, extrathyroidal extension, and lymph node metastasis. The TERT promoter and the BRAF V600E mutations were identified from PTC samples.
Results:
The TERT promoter mutation was detected in 18% of PTC patients (13/74). No significant difference in the frequency of the TERT promoter mutation was observed between the persistence/recurrence group and the non-recurrence group.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that the prognostic implications of the TERT promoter mutation are dependent on clinicopathological parameters.
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