TY - JOUR
T1 - Telomerase as a tool for the differential diagnosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma
AU - Nouso, Kazuhiro
AU - Urabe, Yoshiaki
AU - Higashi, Toshihiro
AU - Nakatsukasa, Harushige
AU - Hino, Naoki
AU - Ashida, Kouzou
AU - Kinugasa, Nobuyuki
AU - Yoshida, Keigo
AU - Uematsu, Shuji
AU - Tsuji, Takao
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1996/7/15
Y1 - 1996/7/15
N2 - BACKGROUND. Telomerase activation is thought to be essential for the immortality of cancer cells. We measured telomerase activity in human liver samples, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and evaluated this assay as a tool for the diagnosis of HCC using 21-gauge (21-G)-needle biopsy specimens. METHODS. Ninety-four liver samples (27 HCC, 27 liver cirrhosis, 37 chronic hepatitis, and 3 normal liver) that were surgically resected or biopsied with a 12-gauge Silverman needle and 13 HCC samples that were biopsied with a 21-G needle were analyzed for telomerase activation. RESULTS. Eleven of 29 (38%) tumor-bearing liver samples were weakly telomerase- positive, whereas telomerase activity was observed infrequently in nontumor- bearing liver samples (6 of 35; 17%) and in normal liver samples (0 of 3; 0%). The positivity of surgical samples for well differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated HCC was 88% (7 of 8), 87% (13 of 15), and 0% (0 of 2), respectively. In telomerase-positive HCC, 43%, (3 of 7) of well differentiated samples were weakly positive, whereas 92% (12 of 13) of moderately differentiated samples were strongly positive. The difference in the tumor sizes and viral marker status did not affect the activity. The telomerase activity of the 21-G-needle biopsied specimens showed no significant difference from that of the surgical samples. The positive incidence of 21-G specimens was 80% (8 of 10) and 100% (2 of 2) in well differentiated HCC and moderately differentiated HCC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. An incremental positivity of telomerase was observed during hepatocarcinogenesis. The use of this assay in 21-G-needle biopsy specimens may be useful in clinical examination.
AB - BACKGROUND. Telomerase activation is thought to be essential for the immortality of cancer cells. We measured telomerase activity in human liver samples, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and evaluated this assay as a tool for the diagnosis of HCC using 21-gauge (21-G)-needle biopsy specimens. METHODS. Ninety-four liver samples (27 HCC, 27 liver cirrhosis, 37 chronic hepatitis, and 3 normal liver) that were surgically resected or biopsied with a 12-gauge Silverman needle and 13 HCC samples that were biopsied with a 21-G needle were analyzed for telomerase activation. RESULTS. Eleven of 29 (38%) tumor-bearing liver samples were weakly telomerase- positive, whereas telomerase activity was observed infrequently in nontumor- bearing liver samples (6 of 35; 17%) and in normal liver samples (0 of 3; 0%). The positivity of surgical samples for well differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated HCC was 88% (7 of 8), 87% (13 of 15), and 0% (0 of 2), respectively. In telomerase-positive HCC, 43%, (3 of 7) of well differentiated samples were weakly positive, whereas 92% (12 of 13) of moderately differentiated samples were strongly positive. The difference in the tumor sizes and viral marker status did not affect the activity. The telomerase activity of the 21-G-needle biopsied specimens showed no significant difference from that of the surgical samples. The positive incidence of 21-G specimens was 80% (8 of 10) and 100% (2 of 2) in well differentiated HCC and moderately differentiated HCC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. An incremental positivity of telomerase was observed during hepatocarcinogenesis. The use of this assay in 21-G-needle biopsy specimens may be useful in clinical examination.
KW - hepatocellular carcinoma
KW - needle biopsy
KW - telomerase
KW - telomere
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=8944246323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=8944246323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19960715)78:2<232::AID-CNCR7>3.0.CO;2-N
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19960715)78:2<232::AID-CNCR7>3.0.CO;2-N
M3 - Article
C2 - 8673997
AN - SCOPUS:8944246323
VL - 78
SP - 232
EP - 236
JO - Cancer
JF - Cancer
SN - 0008-543X
IS - 2
ER -