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Telomerase Activity Is Detected in Pancreatic Cancer but not in Benign Tumors¹

Department of General Medicine [E. H., T. Y.], First Department of Surgery [T. K., K. S., Y. M.], First Department of Internal Medicine [T. I., M. I.], Second Department of Internal Medicine [K. H.], Hiroshima University School of Medicine, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734, Japan, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Dallas, Texas 75235-9039 [J. W. S.]

Activation of telomerase and stabilization of telomeres are considered to be necessary for immortalization of human tumor cells. In the present study, telomerase activity was detected in 41 (95%) of 43 pancreatic cancer specimens but was detectable in none of 11 benign pancreatic tumors and only one of 3 pancreatitis samples. Low levels of telomerase activity were detected in 5 (14%) of 36 adjacent "normal" pancreatic tissues. These five telomerase-positive "normal" specimens were obtained from patients that also had pancreatic cancer and may reflect occult microinvasion. Telomerase activity was examined in 12 ex vivo brushing samples of the pancreatic duct, and 8 of 8 with pancreatic cancer had detectable telomerase activity, whereas 0 of 4 of benign lesions (cystadenoma and pancreatitis) did. These findings suggest that telomerase activity in cells derived from pancreatic ducts may be useful in the diagnosis of cancer and that telomerase activity may be a critical or rate-limiting step in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

¹ This work was supported by research grants from Geron Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) and a Grant-in-Aid from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in Japan.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received 8/23/96. Accepted 11/12/96.

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