On the contrary, TGF-β expression positively correlated with h-TERC in the BALF samples from patients with NSCLC with a statistically significant p-value (r2=0.343, p=0.028), while the positive correlation between TGF-β expression and h-TERT was very weak and statistically insignificant (Table V, Fig. 3). The gene discussed is TERC; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.