Detection of telomerase activity in human prostate: A diagnostic marker for prostatic cancer?

Abstract

Introduction: The enzyme telomerase appears to act by reversing the process whereby the telomeres at the end of each chromosome are degraded during each cell division. Telomerase is inactive in most human somatic tissues but is reactivated in immortal cells and in cancers, suggesting that telomerase activity is required for the unlimited growth of cells and malignancy. It has been shown to be activated in some prostate cancers but not in benign prostatic tissue. Most prostatic cancers arise with concomitant BPH. many occurring in foci adjacent to BPH and some from within BPH nodules. A biomarker which could predict which patients with BPH were likely to develop a cancer would be invaluable. We have explored the possibility that telomerase activity could act as such a marker. Materials and methods: Telomerase activity was assayed, using a highly sensitive PCR-bnsed assay, in nine biopsies from patients with prostatic cancer, in 16 from patients clinically diagnosed with BPH and in 11 from patients with no evidence of prostatic disease. Results: Telomerase activity was detected in eight of the nine prostate cancer biopsies, in none of the normal prostates and in six of the 16 BPH biopsies. Conclusion: The detection of telomerase activity in most of the biopsies from patients with BPH could indicate a predisposition to prostate cancer by either genetic instability or pre-clinical cancer in the specimens examined, and suggests that telomerase activity could be a valuable early biomarker of patients with BPH who may subsequently develop prostate cancer. © 1997 British Journal of Urology.