端粒酶基因在人肿瘤组织中的表达

目的 探讨端粒酶基因表达与肿瘤恶性表型及其与端粒酶活性的关系;评价端粒酶基因表达检测在肿瘤诊断中的价值。方法 用原位杂交的方法检测端粒酶基因ｈＴＲ和ｈＴＲＴ在７８例人觉癌组织,２０例癌前病变,２８例良性病变中的表达及分布情况。结果 ７８例癌中ｈＴＲ阳性率为８５％（６６／７８）,ｈＴＲＴ阳性率为８２％（６４／７８）;在癌旁组织中ｈＴＲ、ｈＴＲＴ的表达阳性率分别为３％（２／７８）、５％（４／７８）;２

Expression of telomerase genes in human tumors

Objective To investigate the correlation between the expression of telomerase genes and malignant phenotypes of human tumors and to compare the expression of telomerase genes and its activity reported in order to evaluate the role of detection of telomerase genes in tumor diagnosis. Methods With in situ hybridization, the expression and distribution of telomerase hTR and hTRT genes were observed in 78 cases of human cancer tissues, 20 cases of precancerous lesions and 28 of benign lesions. The results were statistically analyzed. Results hTR and hTRT were detected in 85% (66/78) and 82% (64/78) of the primary cancers. While in the adjacent tissues, the positive rates were only 3% (2/78) and 5% (4/78). In 20 precancerous cases, the positive rate for hTR and hTRT were 20% (4/20) and 15% (3/20) and the positive cases in 28 benign lesions were 0 and 1/28 (4%), respectively. The positive detection of hTR and hTRT expression in cancer group were significantly different from those in the adjacent tissues, precancerous cases and benign lesion group ( P <0.01). In analysing main types of the human cancers, the positive frequency of hTR and hTRT were 94%(15/16) and 88%(14/16) for the breast cancer, 85%(17/20) and 90%(18/20) for the colon cancer, 80%(8/10) and 80%(8/10) for the gallbladder cancer, 75%(6/8)and 75%(6/8) for the lung cancer, 75%(6/8) and 75%(6/8)for the stomach cancer, and 83%(5/6) and 83%(5/6) for the esophagus cancer, respectively. The expression level of telomerase hTR and hTRT correlated well with the malignancy and metastatic potentials in breast cancer, colon cancer and bladder cancer. Besides, the expressions of hTR and hTRT were noticed to be also highly correlated ( P <0.01). Conclusions The expression of telomerase genes correlates with tumor malignant phenotypes, and may reflect the progression of tumors, and the detection of telomerase gene expression may be useful in a retrospective cancer research. It is worthwhile for further study to clarify whether screening of telomerase gene expression is able to become a new index for tumor diagnosis and prognosis.