Prognostic significance of telomerase activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma [NPC] is one of the very few cancers in which care can be anticipated even in patients with advancer disease. Telomerase enzyme is a specialized multisubunit functioning as a reverse transcriptase that can synthesize the telomeric ends at each cell division. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of telomerase activity, particularly in terms of prognostic impact, in nasopharyngeal carcinoma [NPC]. The studs evaluated 25 NPC specimens using polymerase chain reaction based or telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. Telomerase activity was detected in 20 [80%] of 25 NPC specimens but in non of the adjacent normal tissue specimens. Factors such as the mean age, sex and size of the tumor did not correlate significantly with telomerase activity. On the other hand, significant positive telomerase activity were observed in the patient with advanced disease, in patients with modal metastases and in patient with poorly differentiated tumour. In conclusion, telomerase activity can be utilized as one of the important prognostic factors in patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma