Cristina Frías, Alberto Morán, Carmen de Juan, Paloma Ortega, Tamara Fernández-Marcelo, Manuel Benito, Pilar Iniesta, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University, 28040-Madrid, Spain.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. 2009 Oct 15;1(1):3-11. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v1.i1.3.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the western world. Tumour cells acquire the hallmarks of cancer during the carcinogenic selection process. Cell immortality is one of the principal features acquired during this process which involves the stabilization of telomere length. It is achieved mainly, by telomerase activation. Thus, the discovery of telomeres and telomerase allowed an understanding of the mechanisms by which cells can become immortalized. Different studies have shown that tumour cells have shorter telomeres than nontumour cells and have detected telomerase activity in the majority of tumours. Survival studies have determined that telomere maintenance and telomerase activity are associated with poor prognosis. Taking into account all the results achieved by different groups, quantification and evaluation of telomerase activity and measurement of telomere length may be useful methods for additional biologic and prognostic staging of colorectal carcinoma.
结直肠癌是西方世界第三常见的癌症，也是癌症相关死亡的第二大主要原因。在致癌选择过程中，肿瘤细胞获得了癌症的特征。细胞永生性是在这个过程中获得的主要特征之一，涉及端粒长度的稳定。它主要通过端粒酶的激活来实现。因此，端粒和端粒酶的发现使人们能够理解细胞如何获得永生的机制。不同的研究表明，肿瘤细胞的端粒比非肿瘤细胞短，并且在大多数肿瘤中检测到端粒酶活性。生存研究确定端粒维持和端粒酶活性与预后不良有关。考虑到不同研究组取得的所有结果，端粒酶活性的定量和评估以及端粒长度的测量可能是结直肠癌额外生物学和预后分期的有用方法。
