Assaying telomerase activity of urine exfoliated cells and its clinical significance / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the value of telomerase activity in urine exfoliated cells as clinical indicator of tumor presence, stage, and recurrence. Methods: The techniques of TRAP-PCR and TRAP-sliver staining were employed to detect telomerase activity in 73 patients with TCC before operation (study group) and 20 benign urothelial cancer patients (control group) and 21 normal individuals (normal group). Cytologic results were obtained simultaneously. The bladder tumor specimens were obtained from 73 patients during operation, and histologically evaluated for tumor content and grade. Results: Positive rate of telomerase activity detection in TCC patients (80.8%,59 of 73) was significantly higher than that of cytological examination (20.5%, 15 of 73). Positive telomerase activity was not found in 17 of 20 in control group and none was found in normal group. Analysis of the distribution of abnormalities with tumor stage revealed greater detection of high pathological stage (T 2-T 4) (89.7%, 26 of 29) compared with low stage (Tis-T 1) (75%, 33 of 44). Conclusion: Detection of telomerase activity in urine exfoliated cells may be a sensitive and effective marker in the diagnosis of TCC.