SMARCAL1 and glioblastoma: TERTp hypermethylation can aberrantly activate telomerase in cancer,30 and the ATRX or SMARCAL1 gene mutations are strongly associated with the maintenance of telomere length, referred to as alternative lengthening of telomeres.31 Indeed, our results indicated the frequent loss of ATRX expression in TERTp wild-type GBM.