Telomerase – a Potential Molecular Marker of Lung and Cervical Cancer
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Sudip Sen
Abstract
Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that adds hexameric TTAGGG nucleotide repeats onto telomeres is reactivated in most malignancies. Lung cancer is a common malignant disease worldwide as well as in India. Most patients present in advanced stages. As noninvasive diagnostic techniques are preferred, we assayed the telomerase activity in pre-bronchoscopy sputum and compared it with that of bronchial washings and bronchoscopic biopsies by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) in 53 cases of lung cancer. These were corroborated with cytopathological/histopathological examinations. Telomerase activity was detected in 58.5% of sputum samples, 70% of bronchial washings and 74% of bronchoscopic biopsies thereby making it a good noninvasive diagnostic marker of lung cancer.
Cervical cancer is the 7th most common cancer worldwide, with 100,000 new cases being reported annually in India. It is routinely screened by Papanicolaou's (Pap) smear. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of its etiological agents. We have assayed telomerase activity in relation to HPV-16/18 in cervical samples from 93 subjects ranging from normal to precancerous to frank cancers in tissue biopsies and cervical scrapings. HPV infection was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 81% of tumor samples, in 6% of control hysterectomy samples and in 2% of cervical scrapings of normal healthy controls with HPV-16 being the predominant type. Telomerase activity was detected in 96.5% of cervical tumor samples, in 68.7% of premalignant cervical scrapings but was not detected in control hysterectomy samples, or in cervical scrapings of normal healthy controls. There was 71% correlation between telomerase activity and HPV-16/18 infection.
Copyright © 2002 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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- Highly Specific, Simple and Rapid Method for the Determination of Malondialdehyde in Blood Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
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- Performance Evaluation of the Precision™ PCx™ Point-of-Care Blood Glucose Analyzer Using Discriminant Ratio Methodology
- Clinical Evaluation of a New Automated Anti-dsDNA Fluorescent Immunoassay
- Upper Reference Limits for Urinary Catecholamines, Metanephrines and 3-Methoxy-4-Hydroxymandelic Acid in Hypertensive Patients
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- Poetry, Images and Visions: William Blake
- Meetings and Awards
Articles in the same Issue
- The 9th Asian Pacific Congress of Clinical Biochemistry
- Circulating DNA in Plasma and Serum: Biology, Preanalytical Issues and Diagnostic Applications
- Role of Steroid Hormones and Growth Factors in Breast Cancer
- Gene Polymorphism and Coronary Risk Factors in Indian Population
- Clinical Utility of Free Drug Monitoring
- Telomerase – a Potential Molecular Marker of Lung and Cervical Cancer
- Association of Polymorphisms in the Collagen Region of Human SP-A1 and SP-A2 Genes with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Indian Population
- Effect of Hemodialysis on the Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants
- Total Iron Binding Capacity and Transferrin Concentration in the Assessment of Iron Status
- Increased Levels of Osteoprotegerin in Hemodialysis Patients
- Levels of Testosterone, Allopregnanolone and Homocysteine in Severe Hypothyroidism
- The Levels of Serum Vitamin C, Malonyldialdehyde and Erythrocyte Reduced Glutathione in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and in Healthy Smokers
- Highly Specific, Simple and Rapid Method for the Determination of Malondialdehyde in Blood Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
- Precision and Accuracy of a HPLC Method for Measurement of Fecal Porphyrin Concentrations
- Continuous Age-Dependent Reference Ranges for Thyroid Hormones in Neonates, Infants, Children and Adolescents Established Using the ADVIA(r) Centaur(tm) Analyzer
- Diagnostic Value of Various Urine Tests in the Jordanian Population with Urinary Tract Infection
- Performance Evaluation of the Precision™ PCx™ Point-of-Care Blood Glucose Analyzer Using Discriminant Ratio Methodology
- Clinical Evaluation of a New Automated Anti-dsDNA Fluorescent Immunoassay
- Upper Reference Limits for Urinary Catecholamines, Metanephrines and 3-Methoxy-4-Hydroxymandelic Acid in Hypertensive Patients
- Growth Hormone Immunoassays: Proposal to Reduce Interlaboratory Variability
- Poetry, Images and Visions: William Blake
- Meetings and Awards
