ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2011
Telomerase expression and telomere length in breast cancer and their associations with adjuvant treatment and disease outcome.
Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Shorter telomere length as a prognostic marker for survival and recurrence in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Exploration of targeted anti-tumor therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Association between telomere length and survival in cancer patients: a meta-analysis and review of literature.Frontiers of medicine · 2016Pooled it
- The Association between Telomere Length and Cancer Prognosis: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Potential of hTERT mRNA for the management of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Incorporation of network pharmacology, molecular docking, survival, density functional theory, and experimental studies to explore the potential key targets of formononetin by TERT-mediated anti-cancer effects in MCF-7 breast cancer.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Global research trends and prospects related to telomerase within breast cancer: a bibliometric and visual analysis.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Telomeres, telomerase, and cancer: mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutics.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Impact of khat (Catha edulis) and oral contraceptive use on telomerase levels and tumor suppressor genes p53 and p21 in normal subjects and breast cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Obesity-Senescence-Breast Cancer: Clinical Presentation of a Common Unfortunate Cycle.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Review
- Association of hTERT expression, Her2Neu, estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, with telomere length before and at the end of treatment in breast cancer patients.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Comparing Length and Telomere Expression at Oral Precancerous and Cancerous Stages.Iranian journal of pathology · 2024Article
- The dynamics of telomere length in primary and metastatic colorectal cancer lesions.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Breast Cancer Treated with Telomerase Peptide Immunotherapy Combined with Cytotoxic Chemotherapy.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2023Article
- Antidepressant medication use and prostate cancer recurrence in men with depressive disorders.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2022Article
- Hormonal regulation of telomerase activity and hTERT expression in steroid-regulated tissues and cancer.Cancer cell international · 2022Review
- Impact of Amplification Efficiency Approaches on Telomere Length MeasurementFrontiers in genetics · 2021Article
- Assessment of telomerase as drug target in breast cancer.Journal of biosciences · 2020Review
- Social Relationships and Salivary Telomere Length Among Middle-Aged and Older African American and White Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2019Article
- Lymphocyte telomere length predicts clinical outcomes of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients after definitive radiotherapy.Carcinogenesis · 2019Article
- Luteolin inhibits cell cycle progression and induces apoptosis of breast cancer cells through downregulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase.Oncology letters · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionTelomere length plays important roles in maintaining genome stability and regulating cell replication and death. Telomerase has functions not only to extend telomere length but also to repair DNA damage. Studies have shown that telomerase may increase cancer cell resistance to DNA-damaging anticancer agents; tamoxifen may suppress telomerase expression in breast cancer cells. This study aimed to investigate the role of telomere length and telomerase activity in breast cancer prognosis.
methodsqPCR and qRT-PCR were used to analyze telomere length and telomerase expression, respectively, in tumor samples of 348 breast cancer patients. Cox regression analysis was performed to examine telomere length and telomerase expression in association with disease-free survival and cause-specific mortality.
resultsTelomere length had no relation to tumor features or disease outcomes. Telomerase expression was detected in 53% of tumors. Larger tumors or aggressive disease were more likely to have telomerase expression. Among patients treated with chemotherapy, high telomerase was found to be associated with increased risk of death (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.15; 95% CI: 1.34 to 7.40) and disease recurrence (HR = 2.04; 95% CI: 0.96 to 4.30) regardless of patient age, disease stage, tumor grade, histological type or hormone receptor status. Patients treated with endocrine therapy had different results regarding telomerase: high telomerase appeared to be associated with better survival outcomes. Telomerase expression made no survival difference in patients who received both chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
conclusionsOverall, telomerase expression was not associated with disease outcome, but this finding may be masked by adjuvant treatment. Patients with high telomerase expression responded poorly to chemotherapy in terms of disease-free and overall survival, but fared better if treated with endocrine therapy.
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