This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hiyama, E. Articles by Yokoyama, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hiyama, E. Articles by Yokoyama, T.

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.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Matsuo, E. Hiyama, T. Sugita, S. Shimose, T. Kubo, Y. Mochizuki, N. Adachi, K. Kojima, P. Sharman, and M. Ochi Telomerase Activity in Giant Cell Tumors of Bone Ann. Surg. Oncol., October 1, 2007; 14(10): 2896 - 2902. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ohuchida, K. Mizumoto, D. Yamada, H. Yamaguchi, H. Konomi, E. Nagai, K. Yamaguchi, M. Tsuneyoshi, and M. Tanaka Quantitative analysis of human telomerase reverse transcriptase in pancreatic cancer. Clin. Cancer Res., April 1, 2006; 12(7): 2066 - 2069. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ohuchida, K. Mizumoto, Y. Ogura, N. Ishikawa, E. Nagai, K. Yamaguchi, and M. Tanaka Quantitative Assessment of Telomerase Activity and Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Messenger RNA Levels in Pancreatic Juice Samples for the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., March 15, 2005; 11(6): 2285 - 2292. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Beger, M. Ramadani, S. Meyer, G. Leder, M. Kruger, K. Welte, F. Gansauge, and H. G. Beger Down-Regulation of BRCA1 in Chronic Pancreatitis and Sporadic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Clin. Cancer Res., June 1, 2004; 10(11): 3780 - 3787. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Ohali, S. Avigad, I.J. Cohen, I. Meller, Y. Kollender, J. Issakov, I. Gelernter, Y. Goshen, I. Yaniv, and R. Zaizov Association Between Telomerase Activity and Outcome in Patients With Nonmetastatic Ewing Family of Tumors J. Clin. Oncol., October 15, 2003; 21(20): 3836 - 3843. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. F. Parker, S. R. Florell, A. Alexander, J. A. DiSario, P. J. Shami, and S. A. Leachman Pancreatic Carcinoma Surveillance in Patients With Familial Melanoma Arch Dermatol, August 1, 2003; 139(8): 1019 - 1025. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Seki, T. Suda, Y. Aoyagi, S. Sugawara, M. Natsui, H. Motoyama, Y. Shirai, T. Sekine, H. Kawai, Y. Mita, et al. Diagnosis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma by Detection of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Messenger RNA in Pancreatic Juice with Sample Qualification Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2001; 7(7): 1976 - 1981. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kern, R. Hruban, M. A. Hollingsworth, R. Brand, T. E. Adrian, E. Jaffee, and M. A. Tempero A White Paper: The Product of a Pancreas Cancer Think Tank Cancer Res., June 1, 2001; 61(12): 4923 - 4932. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Shay, Y. Zou, E. Hiyama, and W. E. Wright Telomerase and cancer Hum. Mol. Genet., April 1, 2001; 10(7): 677 - 685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Tatsumoto, E. Hiyama, Y. Murakami, Y. Imamura, J. W. Shay, Y. Matsuura, and T. Yokoyama High Telomerase Activity Is an Independent Prognostic Indicator of Poor Outcome in Colorectal Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2000; 6(7): 2696 - 2701. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				K Y Lam, C Y Lo, S T Fan, and J M Luk Telomerase activity in pancreatic endocrine tumours: a potential marker for malignancy Mol. Pathol., June 1, 2000; 53(3): 133 - 136. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				C. Poremba, K. R. Shroyer, M. Frost, R. Diallo, F. Fogt, K.-L. Schafer, H. Burger, A. L. Shroyer, B. Dockhorn-Dworniczak, and W. Boecker Telomerase Is a Highly Sensitive and Specific Molecular Marker in Fine-Needle Aspirates of Breast Lesions J. Clin. Oncol., July 1, 1999; 17(7): 2020 - 2020. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. S. LONGNECKER Molecular Pathology of Invasive Carcinoma Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., June 30, 1999; 880(1): 74 - 82. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. J. Curran, K. St. Denis, J. Irish, P. J. Gullane, C. MacMillan, and S. Kamel-Reid Telomerase Activity in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, July 1, 1998; 124(7): 784 - 788. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. D. Belair, T. R. Yeager, P. M. Lopez, and C. A. Reznikoff Telomerase activity: A biomarker of cell proliferation, not malignant transformation PNAS, December 9, 1997; 94(25): 13677 - 13682. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]