Increased risk of developing lung cancer in Asian patients carrying the TERT rs2736098 G>A polymorphism: evidence from 3,354 cases and 3,518 controls

BACKGROUND The association between telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) rs2736098 G>A and risk of lung cancer (LC) remains inconclusive. To explore the association more precisely, we performed a comprehensive search and conducted a meta-analysis on all eligible case-control studies involving 3,354 cases and 3,518 controls. METHODS The 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and the pooled odds ratio (OR) were calculated using a random or fixed effect model. Publication bias, heterogeneity, and sensitivity analysis were also explored. RESULTS All studies were case-control studies on LC in patients of Asian descent, consisting of one Korean study and five Chinese studies. Overall, the variant A allele of TERT rs2736098 G>A was found to significantly increase the risk of LC in all genetic models (GA vs GG: OR =1.13, 95% CI =1.02-1.25, P=0.017; AA vs GG: OR =1.78, 95% CI =1.53-2.07, P<0.001; GA/AA vs GG: OR =1.25, 95% CI =1.14-1.38, P<0.001; AA vs GA/GG OR =1.66, 95% CI =1.45-1.92, P<0.001). In the subgroup analysis, significant associations were found in Chinese group and hospital-based studies. Different genotype test methods showed no influence on the final results. CONCLUSION Our study identified that TERT rs2736098 G>A polymorphism significantly increased the risk of LC in Asian populations.