Prognostic significance of hTERT expression in non-small cell lung cancer

To investigate the prognostic role of hTERT expression in non-small cell lu ng cancer (NSCLC), we examined the expression of hTERT mRNA in tumor specim ens from 68 patients with NSCLC using RT-PCR. The expression of hTERT was d etected in 34 (50%) of 68 cancer tissues. There were no correlations betwee n hTERT status and any common clinical features except age. Patients with h TERT expression had shorter survival than those without hTERT expression. M ultivariate analysis showed that hTERT expression was an independent negati ve prognostic factor. These results suggest that expression of hTERT may be an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients.