Telomere reduction in endometrial adenocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Some of the genomic instability that is observed in solid tumors may be due to the loss of telomeric sequences. These experiments were designed to compare the number of telomeric repeat sequences in endometrial adenocarcinoma with that found in adjacent normal tissue.


METHODS
Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted from normal and malignant uterine tissue of 11 patients undergoing hysterectomy for treatment of endometrial adenocarcinoma and also from five endometrial carcinoma cell lines. The relative number of telomeric repeat sequences in each sample was measured by hybridization of these deoxyribonucleic acids to a probe specific for the human telomeric repeat. Hybridization signals were quantified by autoradiography and a beta-particle detection system.


RESULTS
A reduction of telomeric repeat sequences in tumor versus normal tissue was found in 10 of 11 cases. Telomere reduction was also seen in endometrial carcinoma cell lines.


CONCLUSIONS
Telomere reduction is a genetic characteristic of many endometrial tumors. Telomere reduction may contribute to the genesis and progression of endometrial carcinoma, or it may be a secondary effect of the tumorigenesis process.
Smith
J K
JK
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Yeh
G
G
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D001345:Autoradiography; D001483:Base Sequence; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000235:genetics; D016615:Telomere; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; C032229:GANTC-specific type II deoxyribonucleases