Genetic variants in TERT are associated with risk of gastric cancer in a Chinese Han population

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is a gene within the cancer susceptibility region located at Chr5p15.33, which is associated with multiple cancer types. In this study, we validated the association between TERT polymorphisms and gastric cancer (GC) risk with a case-control study in a Chinese Han population. A total of 302 GC patients and 300 control individuals were recruited. We identified three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TERT that were associated with GC. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated in logistic regression models after adjusting for age and gender to assess the association. The minor alleles of three SNPs were associated with increased GC risk inallelic model analysis. For two of the SNPs, rs10069690 and rs2853676,, the dominant and additive model frequencies were higher in GC cases compared to controls. Further haplotype analysis revealed a protective effect of haplotype "CG'' of the TERT gene, while the haplotype "TA" increased GC risk. Our results provide new evidence for the association between TERT and GC susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.