title: Telomere shortening in Barrett's mucosa and esophageal adenocarcinoma and its association with loss of heterozygosity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Telomere shortening is thought to be associated with genetic instability. The purpose of this study was to measure telomere length in a series of Barrett's adenocarcinomas (BAs), focusing on the telomere/centromere fluorescent intensity ratio (TCR) with tissue quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridization (Q-FISH).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 11 cases of BA were evaluated for upper esophagus (UE), lower esophagus (LE), Barrett's mucosa (BM), BA, and gastric cardiac mucosa (GC). Q-FISH was performed using two kinds of peptide nucleic acid probe, specific for telomeres and centromeres. The sections were analyzed with a CCD camera and original software (Tissue Telo) for measuring TCR. In addition, Laser Capture Microdissection and GeneScan were implemented for evaluation of genetic instability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The TCR values in BM and, to a lesser extent, BA were significantly lower than those in the other tissues, particularly in heterozygosity (LOH)-positive cases. However, no significant difference was evident between microsatellite instability (MSI)-positive and -negative groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study of BA series, telomere length appeared to change with the degree of histological atypia, with decreases linked to LOH.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. shiraishi-h@kitasato.or.jp
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Tetuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aida
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Naotaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izumiyama-Shimomura
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Okayasu
authors.forename: Kaiyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takubo
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D053842:Microsatellite Instability; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011336:Probability; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers