title: Clinical significance of telomerase activity in basal cell carcinomas and in tumour-free surgical margins.
abstract: To distinguish the infiltrative from the non-infiltrative basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cell cycle markers are being used to supplement histopathological assessment, and proliferation markers are proving particularly useful. A successful radical therapeutic intervention depends on a clear histopathological diagnosis, especially for the tumour margins. For this purpose we investigated whether proof of telomerase activation is a suitable adjunctive molecular marker. We were also interested in the telomerase activity (TA) of BCC-free margin tissues as a prognostic parameter of relapse. Using PCR-ELISA kits, we found TA in 26/30 (87%) BCC tissues and in 8/25 (32%) of the tumour-free surgical margin tissues. Telomerase levels and the incidence of telomerase-positive tumour tissues are not always associated with positive p53 immunoreactive scores in BCC tissues. But telomerase levels correlate significantly with p53 expression levels. In the Kaplan-Meier curve, patients with telomerase-positive tumour-free surgical margin tissues showed significantly shorter relapse-free periods than patients with telomerase-negative tumour-free margin tissues.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Campus Virchow Hospital, Medical Faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Charité, Germany. eva-maria.fabricius@charite.de
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Fabricius
authors.forename: Aleksej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bezeluk
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kruse-Boitschenko
authors.forename: Gustav-Paul
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wildner
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000601:surgery; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002455:Cell Division; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000601:surgery; D019098:Telomerase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019098:Telomerase