title: A comparative study of telomerase activity and cytologic diagnosis in malignant ascites.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate telomerase activity as an adjunct in the cytologic diagnosis of malignant ascites.
  
  
  METHODS
  Malignant ascites collected from 19 gastrointestinal or liver cancer patients with clinical or pathologic evidence of peritoneal metastasis were tested for routine cytology with a liquid-based preparation, and telomerase activity was measured by telomere-repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and real-time quantitative TRAP (RTQ-TRAP) assays. For comparison, controls from peritoneal washings from 8 early gastric cancer patients were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cytological examination detected cancer cells in 8 patients (42%), and 3 cases (16%) were diagnosed as "atypia." With TRAP and RTQ-TRAP assays 16 (84%) and 15 (78%) cases, respectively, were positive for telomerase activity. The sensitivity of telomerase activity by TRAP, RTQ-TRAP assays, and cytology was 84%, 78%, and 58%, respectively. All cases with "atypia" by cytological examination were positive for both TRAP and RTQ-PCR assays. In all negative controls, cytology, TRAP and RTQ-TRAP assays were negative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our findings telomerase activity is a more sensitive method than ascitic fluid cytology and therefore can be considered as a useful diagnostic adjunct to current standard diagnostic methods. However, further large cohort studies with clinical correlation are needed to confirm our findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hospital Pathology, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Su
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeeyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hospital Pathology, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Eui Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Min Hyeong
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Nara
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Lyun
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Mee
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001201:Ascites / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase