Sensitive detection of human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA in the serum of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Telomerase reverse transcriptase protein (hTERT) mRNA has been reported to be detectable by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the serum of patients with breast cancer. We measured serum hTERT mRNA in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and examined its clinical usefulness.


METHODS
We performed RT-PCR to detect the expression of hTERT mRNA in 78 patients with HCC, 10 with liver cirrhosis (LC), 12 with chronic hepatitis (CH), and 34 healthy individuals without any liver diseases and cancers, and statistically analyzed the association with clinical parameters which include age, sex, etiology, Child classification, underlying liver disease, biochemical data, alpha-fetoprotein (alpha-AFP) number and size of tumor, and histological differentiation of HCC regarding HCC patients.


RESULTS
70 of 78 (89.7%) patients with HCC, 7 of 10 (70.0%) with LC, and 5 of 12 (41.7%) with CH were positive for hTERT expression, whereas all healthy individuals were negative for it. A multivariate analysis showed that positivity of hTERT mRNA was independently associated with AFP, tumor size, and differentiation degree.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that this assay is sensitive enough to detect hTERT mRNA in serum, and that it would be applicable for early detection and diagnosis of HCC or other cancers by a quantitative method.
Miura
N
N
Division of Pharmacotherapeutics, Department of Pathophysiological and Therapeutic Science, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan. mnmiura@grape.med.otttori-u.ac.jp
Shiota
G
G
Nakagawa
T
T
Maeda
Y
Y
Sano
A
A
Marumoto
A
A
Kishimoto
Y
Y
Murawaki
Y
Y
Hasegawa
J
J
D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005260:Female; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019098:Telomerase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics
D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; D019098:Telomerase