biostudies-literatureUnknown10Venturini L<h4>Background</h4>Most cancers maintain telomeres by activating telomerase but a significant minority, mainly of mesenchymal origin, utilize an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanism.<h4>Methods</h4>In this study we comparatively analyzed the prognostic relevance of ALT in a monoinstitutional series of 85 liposarcoma patients as a function of the marker (ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (APB) versus heterogeneous telomeres) used to classify the tumor.<h4>Results</h4>Independently of the detection approach, ALT proved to be a prognostic discriminant of increased mortality, although the prognostic relevance of the two markers appeared at different follow-up intervals (at 10 years for APB and 15 years for telomeres).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Overall, we confirmed ALT as aBMC cancer254https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC2894794biostudies-literaturePrognostic relevance of ALT-associated markers in liposarcoma: a comparative analysis.PMC2894794Motta RVenturini LGronchi ADaidone MZaffaroni NfalsePrognostic relevance of ALT-associated markers in liposarcoma: a comparative analysis.<h4>Background</h4>Most cancers maintain telomeres by activating telomerase but a significant minority, mainly of mesenchymal origin, utilize an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanism.<h4>Methods</h4>In this study we comparatively analyzed the prognostic relevance of ALT in a monoinstitutional series of 85 liposarcoma patients as a function of the marker (ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (APB) versus heterogeneous telomeres) used to classify the tumor.<h4>Results</h4>Independently of the detection approach, ALT proved to be a prognostic discriminant of increased mortality, although the prognostic relevance of the two markers appeared at different follow-up intervals (at 10 years for APB and 15 years for telomeres).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Overall, we confirmed ALT as a2010-01-01T00:00:00Z2010 Jun2025-04-19T09:51:57.127Z2019-03-27T00:32:00ZS-EPMC28947942052526610.1186/1471-2407-10-254