title: Use of hTERT and HPV E6/E7 mRNA RT-qPCR TaqMan assays in combination for diagnosing high-grade cervical lesions and malignant tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major cause of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in women. HPV E6 initiates degradation of cellular tumor suppressor protein p53, induces human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) activity, and then leads to progressive cervical carcinogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the CervicGen HPV RT-qDX assay (Optipharm, Osong, Republic of Korea), which detects 16 HPV high-risk subtypes (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, and 69), and the CervicGen hTERT RT-qDX assay (Optipharm) were evaluated using 545 ThinPrep (Hologic, Bedford, MA) Papanicolaou samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The positivity for the HPV E6/E7 messenger RNA (mRNA) assay was 94.4%, 95.2%, 82.4%, 46.5%, 25.0%, and 1.1% in squamous cell carcinomas, high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), atypical squamous cells--cannot exclude HSIL, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, and normal cytology samples, respectively. Five cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2+ samples were not detected by the HPV E6/E7 mRNA assay, but they exhibited positive signals in the hTERT mRNA assay. Notably, the hTERT mRNA expression level was increased in high-grade cervical lesions but was very low in all 288 normal samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that the combination of HPV E6/E7 and hTERT mRNA expression levels could be used in a complementary manner in diagnosing high-grade cervical lesions and malignant tumors and might be useful as a predictive marker in monitoring low-grade cervical lesions.
authors.affiliation: From M&D, Wonju Eco Environmental Technology Center, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea;
authors.forename: Hye-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea;
authors.forename: Sunyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea; Institute for Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;
authors.forename: Sunghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea; Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Hyejeon College, Hongseong, Chungnam, Republic of Korea; and.
authors.forename: Dongsup
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea;
authors.forename: Geehyuk
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea;
authors.forename: Yeun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea; hyelee@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyeyoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D052685:Alphapapillomavirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: Cervical cancer; HPV E6/E7; Molecular diagnosis; RT-qPCR; hTERT