The expression changes of human telomerase reverse transcriptase-mRNA and p53 protein in thyroid carcinoma tissues in the elderly and their clinical significance / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression changes and significance of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-mRNA and mutant p53 protein in thyroid carcinoma tissues in the elderly.Methods The expression level of hTERT-mRNA was examined by in situ hybridization in 50 samples of thyroid carcinoma tissues from the elderly and 41 samples of thyroid carcinoma tissues from the non-elderly and 30 samples of thyroid benign lesions.The expression level of p53 was examined by immunohistochemistry in all subjects.Results The positive rate of hTERT-mRNA was 96.0％ (48/50),85.3％ (35/41) and 10.0％ (3/30) in thyroid carcinoma tissues from the elderly,the non-elderly and thyroid benign lesions respectively,and there were significant differences between the three groups (x2=73.61,P=0.000).The positive rate of p53 was 92.0％ (46/50),85.3％ (35/41) and 13.3％ (3/30) in thyroid carcinoma tissues from the elderly,the non-elderly and thyroid benign lesions respectively,and there were significant differences between the three groups (x2 =62.30,P =0.000).Conclusions The positive rates of hTERT-mRNA and p53 in thyroid carcinoma tissues are higher in the elderly than in the non-elderly,which can be used to evaluate the biological behavior and prognosis of thyroid carcinoma in the elderly,and they play the important roles for targeted therapy.