title: Evaluation of PCR-ELISA for determination of telomerase activity in prostate needle biopsy and prostatic fluid specimens.
abstract: The conventional TRAP assay will determine telomerase activity in tissue or other specimens. However, methodological disadvantages limit its clinical use. We evaluated a modified TRAP assay, the telomerase PCR-ELISA, as a practical clinical system for measuring its activity in conjunction with prostate cancer (PCa). We examined telomerase activity by both TRAP and PCR-ELISA assays in 48 sextant needle biopsy (SNB) specimens from dye-marked areas of the prostate glands of 7 PCa patients. Each specimen was histologically confirmed as cancerous or cancer-free by examining a paired specimen taken from the same marked area. In addition, prostatic fluid (PF) specimens were analyzed from 18 patients, 9 of whom were diagnosed with PCa while 9 were diagnosed as cancer-free but mostly with BPH. The results on individual SNB specimens matched well for the two methods. The sensitivity (91%) and specificity (69%) for the PCR-ELISA measurements were consistent with those for the conventional TRAP assay, 88% and 81%, respectively. Quantitatively, with the PCR-ELISA assay, the mean telomerase activity (24.5+/-28.4 units) per needle core with PCa cells was significantly higher than that in needle cores without PCa cells (7.2+/-2.2 unit), as it was with the conventional TRAP assay, namely 25.6+/-27.8 units and 7.3+/-1.8 units, respectively. In PF specimens from PCa patients, which had a lower mean telomerase than was found in needle cores containing PCa cells (7.1+/-1.5 units in the PCR-ELISA, 7.2+/-1.8 units in the conventional TRAP assay), statistical analysis showed good matching between the results from the two assays, overall. In conclusion, the PCR-ELISA can be considered a reliable method to determine telomerase activity as an adjunct in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA.
authors.forename: Zhilian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Soroush A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ramin
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.forename: Herbert C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Ruckle
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Beltz
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sands
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Slattery
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011467:Prostate / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D019098:Telomerase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen