rs7725218

This variant is located in the TERT gene.

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GWAS Catalog Trait Associations (9)

Genome-wide significant associations (p < 5×10⁻⁸) from the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog.

thyroid carcinoma

White SL et al. “Global multi-ancestry genome-wide analyses identify genes and biological pathways associated with thyroid cancer and benign thyroid diseases.” Nature Genetics 58(2):307-316 (2026)
Allele A
OR 0.15
p 3.0e-44
N 2,917,628
Large GWAS
multi-ancestry

idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Allen RJ et al. “Genome-wide association study across five cohorts identifies five novel loci associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.” Thorax 77(8):829-833 (2022)
Allele G
OR 1.41
p 5.0e-32
N 24,589
Large GWAS
European
Allen RJ et al. “Genome-Wide Association Study of Susceptibility to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 201(5):564-574 (2020)
Allele G
OR 1.39
p 2.0e-20
N 11,259
Large GWAS
European

systemic lupus erythematosus

Yin X et al. “Meta-analysis of 208370 East Asians identifies 113 susceptibility loci for systemic lupus erythematosus.” Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 80(5):632-640 (2021)
Allele A
OR 1.13
p 2.0e-17
N 208,370
Meta-analysisLarge GWAS
East Asian

neutrophil count

Sakaue S et al. “A cross-population atlas of genetic associations for 220 human phenotypes.” Nature Genetics 53(10):1415-1424 (2021)
Allele A
OR 0.04
p 1.0e-15
N 82,810
Large GWAS
East Asian

high density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement

Jee YH et al. “Genome-wide association studies in a large Korean cohort identify quantitative trait loci for 36 traits and illuminate their genetic architectures.” Nature Communications 16(1):4935 (2025)
Allele A
OR 0.01
p 1.0e-12
N 928,679
Large GWAS
multi-ancestry
Richardson TG et al. “Evaluating the relationship between circulating lipoprotein lipids and apolipoproteins with risk of coronary heart disease: A multivariable Mendelian randomisation analysis.” Plos Medicine 17(3):e1003062 (2020)
Allele A
OR 0.01
p 2.0e-9
N 403,943
Large GWAS
European
Sakaue S et al. “A cross-population atlas of genetic associations for 220 human phenotypes.” Nature Genetics 53(10):1415-1424 (2021)
Allele A
OR 0.01
p 3.0e-9
N 390,103
Large GWAS
multi-ancestry

prostate carcinoma

Berndt SI et al. “Two susceptibility loci identified for prostate cancer aggressiveness.” Nature Communications 6:6889 (2015)
Allele G
OR 1.15
p 3.0e-11
N 7,541
Large GWAS
European
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ClinVar annotation

Benign★☆☆☆
1 submitter
View on ClinVar →
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Research that mentions this SNP (1)

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Telomere structure and maintenance gene variants and risk of five cancer types
Meta-analysisN=136,308Sara Karami et al.(2016)· International Journal of Cancer

Meta-analysis of 204,993 SNPs in 22 telomere structure and maintenance genes identified 13 independent SNPs associated with colorectal, breast, prostate, ovarian, and lung cancer risk in 61,851 cases and 74,457 controls of European descent. Seven of these associations were novel findings. Notable findings include rs12655062 (positively associated with prostate cancer, inversely with colorectal/ovarian cancers), rs75316749 (positively associated with colorectal, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers), rs974404 and rs12144215 in DCLRE1B (inversely associated with prostate/lung and colorectal/breast/ovarian cancers respectively), rs34978822 in RTEL1 (inversely associated with prostate/lung cancers), and rs116895242 near POT1 (inversely associated with colorectal, ovarian, and lung cancers).

Traits studied:Aggressive prostate cancerBladder cancerBreast cancerChronic lymphatic leukemiaChronic lymphocytic leukemiaColorectal cancerEndometrial cancerEndometrioid ovarian cancerEsophageal cancerEstrogen receptor negative breast cancerGastric cancerGlioblastomaGliomaGraves diseaseHigh-grade gliomaLung adenocarcinomaLung cancerMelanomaMultiple myelomaNasopharyngeal cancerOsteosarcomaOvarian cancerPancreatic cancerProstate cancerRenal cancerRheumatoid arthritisSerous ovarian cancerSkin cancerSquamous lung cancerTesticular cancer
PubMedDOIMetascience Observatory

About TERT

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein polymerase that maintains telomere ends by addition of the telomere repeat TTAGGG. The enzyme consists of a protein component with reverse transcriptase activity, encoded by this gene, and an RNA component which serves as a template for the telomere repeat. Telomerase expression plays a role in cellular senescence, as it is normally repressed in postnatal somatic cells resulting in progressive shortening of telomeres. Deregulation of telomerase expression in somatic cells may be involved in oncogenesis. Studies in mouse suggest that telomerase also participates in chromosomal repair, since de novo synthesis of telomere repeats may occur at double-stranded breaks. Alternatively spliced variants encoding different isoforms of telomerase reverse transcriptase have been identified; the full-length sequence of some variants has not been determined. Alternative splicing at this locus is thought to be one mechanism of regulation of telomerase activity. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

View all TERT variants →

Gene information from NCBI Gene. Variant classifications from ClinVar.

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