TERT promoter mutations in melanoma survival

Despite advances in targeted therapies, the treatment of advanced melanoma remains an exercise in disease management, hence a need for biomarkers for identification of at-risk primary melanoma patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the prognostic value of TERT promoter mutations in primary melanomas. Tumors from 300 patients with stage I/II melanoma were sequenced for TERT promoter and BRAF/NRAS mutations. Cumulative curves were drawn for patients with and without mutations with progression-free and melanoma-specific survival as outcomes. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to determine the effect of the mutations on survivals. Individually, presence of TERT promoter and BRAF/NRAS mutations associated with poor disease-free and melanoma-specific survival with modification of the effect by the rs2853669 polymorphism within the TERT promoter. Hazard ratio (HR) for simultaneous occurrence of TERT promoter and BRAF/NRAS mutations for disease-free survival was 2.3 (95% CI 1.2-4.4) and for melanoma-specific survival 5.8 (95% CI 1.9-18.3). The effect of the mutations on melanoma-specific survival in noncarriers of variant allele of the polymorphism was significant (HR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4-15.2) but could not be calculated for the carriers due to low number of events. The variant allele per se showed association with increased survival (HR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.9). The data in this study provide preliminary evidence that TERT promoter mutations in combination with BRAF/NRAS mutations can be used to identify patients at risk of aggressive disease and the possibility of refinement of the classification with inclusion of the rs2853669 polymorphism within TERT promoter.