Telomerase as an independent prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Telomerase activity has been found to be associated with many cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We examined the association of telomerase activity with the clinical outcome of patients with HNSCC.


METHODS
A PCR-based enzyme immunoassay method was used to measure telomerase activity in 217 matched (grossly normal and cancerous) tissues from patients with HNSCC. Pearson chi-square test was used to analyze the correlation of telomerase activity with clinicopathologic parameters. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox logistic regression model were used for prognostic analysis.


RESULTS
Of the 217 tissues assayed, 4.1% of the normal and 63.3% of the cancer tissues had high levels of telomerase activity. Telomerase activity was shown to be statistically correlated with extracapsule spreading (ECS) of lymph nodes (p =.005) and overall survival (p =.003). On multivariant analysis, overall stage (p =.007), tumor depth (p =.045), and telomerase activity (p =.008) showed independent variables associated with poor survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Telomerase activity has been shown to be an independent prognostic factor for survival in cases of HNSCC. Telomerase may be a potential molecular target for clinical use in prognostication and therapy in cases of the disease.
Liao
Chun-Ta
CT
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Tung-Chieh Chang
Joseph
J
Wang
Hung-Ming
HM
Chen
I-How
IH
Lin
Chien-Yu
CY
Chen
Tsung-Ming
TM
Hsieh
Ling-Ling
LL
Cheng
Ann-Joy
AJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*
D019098:Telomerase