Telomerase activity in gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE: To examine telomerase activity and its clinical significance in human gastric carcinoma and to evaluate the feasibility of non-radioisotopic TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification protocol) assays to detect telomerase activity. METHODS: Telomerase activity in tissue samples from 58 gastric carcinomas (and their matched normal tissues), 12 gastric adenomas and nine gastric ulcers was examined by using a modified non- radioisotopic PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based TRAP assay. RESULTS: Forty-nine of 58 gastric cancer specimens were positive for telomerase activity, with a positive rate of 84.5%. In contrast, none of the normal tissues exhibited telomerase activity (P < 0.001). One of each of the 12 gastric adenomas and nine gastric ulcers was also positive. The prevalence of telomerase activity in gastric carcinoma tissues was not correlated with age, tumor diameter, histological grade, tumor invasion depth, lymph node metastasis or tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage. CONCLUSIONS: Telomerase activity could be a good diagnostic marker for the detection of gastric carcinoma. The non-radioisotopic TRAP assay is a feasible method for detecting telomerase activity.