端粒酶逆转录酶在胃癌组织中的表达及临床意义

Expression and clinical significance of hTERT in gastric cancer

目的探讨端粒酶逆转录酶(human telomerase reverse transcriptase,hTERT)在胃癌组织中的表达并分析其临床意义。方法以实时荧光定量PCR(quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,qRT-PCR)检测胃癌组织中hTERT mRNA的表达,同时用MaxVision^(TM)即用型快速免疫组化一步法检测胃癌组织中hTERT蛋白的表达,分析hTERT mRNA及其蛋白表达与胃癌临床病理参数之间的关系,并结合随访资料分析其与胃癌患者预后的关系。结果 hTERT mRNA在胃癌组织中的表达升高(P<0.05);hTERT蛋白在胃癌组织中的阳性表达率(83.3%)明显高于正常胃组织(40.0%)(P<0.05)。hTERT mRNA和蛋白表达水平呈正相关(r=0.733,P<0.05);hTERTmRNA的表达与淋巴结转移、远处转移及临床分期相关(P<0.05)。胃癌患者hTERT mRNA高表达组与低表达组的生存曲线存在明显差异(P=0.015)。结论 hTERT在胃癌组织中的表达升高,且和胃癌进展相关,可作为反映胃癌进展及预后的生物学指标。

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） in gastric cancer tissues. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure levels of hTERT mRNA in gastric tissues, while MaxVisionTM immunohistochemistry was used to detect expression of hTERT protein in gastric tissue sections. Possible correlations of hTERT mRNA and protein levels with clinicopathological characteristics and with patient survival were explored. Results The mRNA encoding hTERT was overexpressed in gastric caner tissues and adjacent tumor tissues （P〈0.05）, while the rate of hTERT protein-positive staining was significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues （83.3%） than in normal tissues （40.0%,P〈0.05）. Levels of hTERT mRNA correlated positively with protein levels（r=0.733,P〈0.05 ）. Up-regulation of hTERT was significantly associated with lymph node metastases,distant metastases and TNM stage（P〈0.05）. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed significantly higher survival rates for patients expressing low levels of hTERT than for those expressing high levels （P=0.015）. Conclusions These results suggest that hTERT is overexpressed in gastric cancer tissues, and that such overexpression is associated with gastric cancer progression. Assaying hTERT levels may provide an indicator of disease progression and prognosis.