Telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Telomerase activity has been shown to be increased in numerous tumors and cell lines, although to the authors' knowledge there has been no previous assessment of telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). To examine whether telomerase activity could be used as a biochemical parameter for predicting the behavior of RCC, telomerase activity was quantified in RCC samples and correlated with clinicopathologic findings.


METHODS
Telomerase activity was quantified in 50 RCC samples and 21 samples of normal renal tissue using fluorescence-based telomeric repeat amplification.


RESULTS
Telomerase activity was detected in 28 of 50 RCC samples (mean +/- standard deviation, 35.03 +/- 18.47 U/microg protein), whereas there was no telomerase activity in 21 normal renal tissue specimens. Telomerase activity in tumors classified as pT4 was significantly higher than in tumors classified as pT1 to pT3. Telomerase activity also correlated with patient age.


CONCLUSIONS
Telomerase activity was increased in RCC samples compared with normal renal tissues. Although significant associations were observed between telomerase activity and clinicopathologic parameters, further study is required to determine whether telomerase activity affects the biologic and clinical behavior of RCC.
Department of Urology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan.
K
K
Yoshida
S
S
Sakamoto
S
S
Sumi
Y
Y
Higashi
S
S
Kitahara
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000201:enzymology; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*
D019098:Telomerase