Various genome-wide association studies in different population groups have revealed that polymorphisms in Telomere maintenance gene (TERT) gene located on 5p15.33 is associated with susceptibility to leukemia and lung cancer risk.
Common complications (thrombosis, myelofibrosis, or leukemia) were not associated with the TERT variant; however, adverse survival was noted in TERT variant carrier polycythemia vera patients.
The role of telomerase catalytic subunit hTERT in clonal malignancies including human leukemia is fundamental in overcoming cell senescence and enabling prolonged proliferation.
HBV integration recurrently targeted the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (three cases) and genes belonging to distinct pathways: calcium signalling related genes, 60s ribosomal protein encoding genes, and platelet derived growth factor and mixed lineage leukaemia encoding genes.