Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression profile of human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） in colorectal cancer （CRC） and to assess its clinical significance. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect expression of hTERT mRNA both in colorectal cancer and in corresponding normal tissue. Expression data were correlated with clinicopathological features，and survival analysis was performed to assess the prognostic significance. Results The hTERT mRNA was expressed in both tumor and CRC tissue，but it was expressed at significantly higher levels in cancer tissue（P=0.011）. Upregulation of hTERT was significantly associated with lymph node involvement （P=0.011） and TNM stage （P=0.006）. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of low vs. high expressers of hTERT revealed much lower survival among high expressers（P=0.014）. Conclusions The results of the current study suggest that hTERT may play an important role in onset of CRC，so the protein may have potential as a prognostic biomarker or even as a therapeutic target.

Key words:  Colorectal neoplasm, hTERT, Prognosis, Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction