OBJECTIVES: To investigate telomerase activity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its preneoplasia lesions, and to study the relationships between telomerase activity and cancer differentiation, cancer in...OBJECTIVES: To investigate telomerase activity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its preneoplasia lesions, and to study the relationships between telomerase activity and cancer differentiation, cancer invasiveness, and lymphatic metastasis. METHODS: Telomerase activity in esophageal SCC tissues, adjacent dysplasia tissues and normal epithelia from the surgical edge were assessed by microdissection-TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification protocol)-silver staining assay. RESULTS: Telomerase activity was detected in 37 (82.2%) of 45 esophageal tumors, 23 (79.3%) of 29 dysplasias, and 2 (5%) of 40 normal epithelia. There was a significant difference in activity between dysplasia and normal epithelium, as well as between tumor and normal epithelium. Twenty-six (92.9%) of 28 tumors with lymphatic metastasis had detectable telomerase activity compared to 11 (64.7%) of 17 non-lymphatic metastasis tumors. These relationships were statistically significant (P展开更多
文摘OBJECTIVES: To investigate telomerase activity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its preneoplasia lesions, and to study the relationships between telomerase activity and cancer differentiation, cancer invasiveness, and lymphatic metastasis. METHODS: Telomerase activity in esophageal SCC tissues, adjacent dysplasia tissues and normal epithelia from the surgical edge were assessed by microdissection-TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification protocol)-silver staining assay. RESULTS: Telomerase activity was detected in 37 (82.2%) of 45 esophageal tumors, 23 (79.3%) of 29 dysplasias, and 2 (5%) of 40 normal epithelia. There was a significant difference in activity between dysplasia and normal epithelium, as well as between tumor and normal epithelium. Twenty-six (92.9%) of 28 tumors with lymphatic metastasis had detectable telomerase activity compared to 11 (64.7%) of 17 non-lymphatic metastasis tumors. These relationships were statistically significant (P
