THORLNC and cancer: Additionally, although TERTpMut is considered a major cancer-associated genetic mechanism of hTERT upregulation, many cancers such as breast and prostate cancer, exhibit hTERT upregulation without TERTpMut [26, 49–51], which further highlights that other mechanisms such as THOR hypermethylation may contribute to hTERT transcription and telomerase activation.