Detection of hTERT mRNA in peripheral blood and its implication for diagnosis of early stage postoperative endometrial cancer micrometastasis.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to examine the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in peripheral blood of endometrial cancer (EC) patients before and after surgery, and explore its clinical implication for diagnosis of early stage postoperative EC micrometastases.


METHODS
Fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) was used to determine the expression level of hTERT mRNA in peripheral blood of 40 healthy controls, 40 patients with benign uterine diseases, and 56 EC patients before and after surgery. All data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics v.17.0 software.


RESULTS
hTERT mRNA in peripheral blood was positive in 57.1% of EC patients (32/56), which is significantly higher compared to 0.0% (0/40) in healthy controls (χ2=34.286, P=0.000) and 5.0% (2/40) in patients with benign uterine diseases (χ2=27.736, P=0.000). The 32 EC patients with positive hTERT mRNA expression included 16 cases of stage I~II, and 16 cases of stage III~IV. The relative expression level of hTERT mRNA is -4.0000±0.2401 for stage I~II, and -2.7107±0.1253 for stage III~IV. The relative expression level of hTERT mRNA was significantly higher in EC patients with at higher pathological stages (t=-14.398, P=0.000). hTERT mRNA positive expression rates in peripheral blood of EC patients before and after surgery were 57.1% (32/56) and 85.7% (48/56), respectively, which is significantly different (χ2=11.200, P=0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
hTERT can be used as a marker for diagnosis of endometrial cancer micrometastasis via blood, and therefore has important value in choosing postoperative adjunctive therapy for early stage endometrial cancer.
Department of Gynecology, Jinan Military General Hospital, Jinan, China - ygpwylll@hotmail.com.
Jing
J
Liang
Geping
G
Yin
Ming
M
Chen
Aifang
A
Wu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D061206:Neoplasm Micrometastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase