title: Prevalence of telomerase activity in human cancer.
abstract: Telomerase activity has been measured in a wide variety of cancerous and non-cancerous tissue types, and the vast majority of clinical studies have shown a direct correlation between it and the presence of cancerous cells. Telomerase plays a key role in cellular immortality and tumorigenesis. Telomerase is activated in 80-90% of human carcinomas, but not in normal somatic cells, therefore, its detection holds promise as a diagnostic marker for cancer. Measurable levels of telomerase have been detected in malignant cells from various samples: tissue from gestational trophoblastic neoplasms; squamous carcinoma cells from oral rinses; lung carcinoma cells from bronchial washings; colorectal carcinoma cells from colonic luminal washings; bladder carcinoma cells from urine or bladder washings; and breast carcinoma or thyroid cancer cells from fine needle aspirations. Such clinical tests for telomerase can be useful as non-invasive and cost-effective methods for early detection and monitoring of cancer. In addition, telomerase activity has been shown to correlate with poor clinical outcome in late-stage diseases such as non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas. In such cases, testing for telomerase activity can be used to identify patients with a poor prognosis and to select those who might benefit from adjuvant treatment. Our review of the latest medical advances in this field reveals that telomerase holds great promise as a biomarker for early cancer detection and monitoring, and has considerable potential as the basis for developing new anticancer therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chi-Hau
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ruey-Jien
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D016615:Telomere
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase