Changes in telomerase activity due to alternative splicing of human telomerase reverse transcriptase in colorectal cancer

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression level may not always correlate with telomerase activity. The present study analyzed hTERT splicing patterns with respect to hTERT and telomerase activity in colorectal cancer. Telomerase activity was determined by telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay, and spliced variants of hTERT were identified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 40 colorectal cancer tissue samples. In the lower range of telomerase activity (0-100 units), the percentage of the beta variant decreased with the increment in telomerase activity, whereas in the higher range of telomerase activity (>100 units), total hTERT expression level revealed a trend toward increment. There was a positive correlation between the full-length variant level and beta variant level. Conversely, there was a negative correlation between the percentage of the full-length variant and beta variant. Tumor-node-metastasis stage was the strongest prognostic factor in multivariate analysis and the percentage of the full-length variant was an independent prognostic factor for survival. Telomerase activity was primarily altered with changes in alternative splicing of the full-length and beta variants of hTERT in colorectal cancer.