Clinical significance of telomerase activity in biopsy specimens of gastric cancer

Telomerase has been reported to be activated in most immortal cells and human cancers. The purpose of this study was to assess the:clinical significance of telomerase activity in biopsy specimens of gastric cancer. Telomerase activity in endoscopic biopsy specimens obtained preoperatively from 31 patients with gastric cancer was determined semiquantitatively using the telomeric repeal amplification protocol assay, a polymerase chain reaction-based assay. Cancer tissues had significantly higher telomerase activity than adjacent normal tissues (13.9 +/- 2.0% vs. 7.0 +/- 0.8%; p < 0.05). The ratio of the telomerase activity in cancer tissues to that in normal tissues (telomerase index) was significantly higher in tumors invading the proper muscle layer or deeper or in tumors with moderate or marked lymphatic:invasion than in tumors without these invasive factors (4.7 +/- 1.4 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.1 for depth of invasion and 4.4 +/- 1.3 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.2 for lymphatic invasion; p < 0.05 for both). These results suggest that the analysis of telomerase activity in biopsy specimens might contribute to preoperative assessment of the invasive activity or stage of gastric cancer.