[Expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase and its relationship with expression of c-myc in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas].

Objective: To investigate the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and c-myc and their relationship with clinicopathological parameter in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

Method: The expression of hTERT protein and c-myc protein in 39 LSCC specimens and 10 vocal cord polyp specimens were detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlation between the expression of hTERT protein and c-myc protein and their relationship with clinicopathological parameter were analyzed.

Result: The positive rate of hTERT protein and c-myc protein expression in 39 LSCC was 84.6% (33/39) and 82.1% (32/39), respectively. The positive rate of hTERT protein and c-myc protein expression in 10 vocal cord polyps was 0 (0/10) and 10.0% (1/10) respectively. Statistical tests showed that hTERT and c-myc protein expression was significantly higher in LSCC than that in vocal cord polyps. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed that the expression of c-myc protein was great significantly related to that of hTERT protein (correlation coefficient r = 0.541, P < 0.01). No statistically association was observed among the frequency of hTERT expression and TNM stages, degree of differentiation or lymph nodes metastases.

Conclusion: The activation of hTERT may be a key step in the pathogenesis of LSCC and the expression of hTERT was associated significantly with that of c-myc gene. C-myc is probably an important control factor in the activation and regulation of hTERT expression.