Telomere maintenance mechanisms in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors: expression and prognostic relevance

Venturini, L., Daidone, M.G., Motta, R., Cimino-Reale, G., Hoare, S.F., Gronchi, A., Folini, M., Keith, W.N. and Zaffaroni, N. (2012) Telomere maintenance mechanisms in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors: expression and prognostic relevance. Neuro-Oncology, 14(6), pp. 736-744. (doi: 10.1093/neuonc/nos083)

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Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and the prognostic relevance of the 2 known telomere maintenance mechanisms (TMMs), telomerase activity (TA) and alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST). In 57 specimens from 49 patients with MPNST (35 sporadic, 14 neurofibromatosis type 1-related), TA was determined using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol, and ALT was detected by assaying ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (APB) and terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length distribution. TA or ALT (defined on the basis of APB) alone was found in 24.6% or 26.3% of the lesions, respectively, whereas 6 cases (10.5%) were TA+/ALT+. A concordance between APB and TRF results in defining the ALT status was observed in 44 of 57 cases (77.2%; P < .0001). TA was more frequently expressed in samples from patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 than in those with sporadic disease (60% vs 29.4%, P = 0.087). In the overall series, TA proved to be prognostic for 5-year disease-specific death (hazard ratio, 3.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60–8.95; P = .002), even when adjusted for the presence of neurofibromatosis type 1 (hazard ratio, 4.22; 95% CI, 1.804–9.874; P = .001) and margin status after surgery (hazard ratio, 5.78; 95% CI, 2.19–15.26; P < .001). Conversely, ALT did not significantly affect clinical outcome of MPNST using either APB expression (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI 0.54–2.89; P = 0.605) or TRF distribution (hazard ratio, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.17–1.96; P = .375) as the detection approach. Our results indicate for the first time that both TMMs, TA and ALT, are present in MPNST and differentially affect patient prognosis.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hoare, Miss Stacey and Keith, Professor Nicol
Authors: Venturini, L., Daidone, M.G., Motta, R., Cimino-Reale, G., Hoare, S.F., Gronchi, A., Folini, M., Keith, W.N., and Zaffaroni, N.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
Journal Name:Neuro-Oncology
ISSN:1522-8517
Published Online:19 April 2012

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