title: Loss of telomerase activity may be a potential favorable prognostic marker in lung carcinomas.
abstract: Many cancer and immortal cells exhibit telomerase activity that stabilizes telomere lengths, possibly contributing to cell immortality and carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinicopathological relationship between telomerase activity and telomerase reverse transcriptase subunit (hTERT) status in non small cell lung cancer. hTERT status in non small cell lung cancer using telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and RT-PCR assay, respectively. Telomerase activity and hTERT were detected in 85.7 and 80.3% of cancerous tissues, respectively. Telomerase activity does not correlate with clinicopathological variables. However, there was an association between p53-correlated expression and hTERT negative status. Lung cancer patients without telomerase activity survived for a significantly longer period than those with telomerase activity. In addition, hTERT was not associated with the prognosis. TERT expression did not correlate well with any clinical parameter. Reactivated telomerase activity may be a poor prognostic factor in NSCLCs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chest Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Tzu-Chin
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Pinpin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chung-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Yi-Jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chih-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wen-Chuan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Huei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jiunn-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ko
mesh_terms: D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase