Telomerase activity in urine in diagnosis and recurrence surveillance of urothelial carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the significance of telomerase activity in urine in the diagnosis and recurrence surveillance of urothelial carcinoma.


METHODS
Telomerase activity in urine of 54 cases of urothelial carcinoma (urothelial carcinoma group) was estimated by polymerase chain reaction-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and monitored continuously in 23 cases after tumor removal. 46 patients with benign urological diseases were also included as the control group.


RESULTS
The telomerase activity in urine of patients with urothelial carcinoma increased significantly as compared with the control group (P < 0.001), decreased into the normal range after tumor removal, and rose again upon intravesical tumor recurrence before the screening of recurrent tumors by cystoscopy. The higher the grade of tumor, the higher the telomerase activity; no correlation could be found between the preoperative level of telomerase activity in urine and recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
The examination of telomerase activity in urine is helpful in the diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma and may be related to the differentiation degree of tumors. Its sensitivity is higher than that of cystoscopic examination and may become an important ancillary method in the screening of urothelial carcinoma recurrence.
Li
Zhenhua
Z
Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China. leilinli@sina.com
Kong
Chuize
C
Wang
Ping
P
Liu
Xin
X
Liu
Tongcai
T
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019098:Telomerase / Q000652:urine*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine
D019098:Telomerase