[The role of telomerase for pancreatic carcinogenesis in human and hamster].

Telomerase activity and terminal restriction flagment (TRF) length were investigated in human and hamster pancreatic duct adenocarcinomas. In the hamster primary and transplantable pancreatic carcinomas and cell lines, telomerase activity increased 86 to 215.7 times relative to the levels in normal spleen and pancreas, and reduction of TRF length was observed. In 38 human pancreatic ductal carcinomas, 32 (84%) exhibited increased telomerase activities with no apparent relation to the histological type of tumor, tumor size, regional lymph node involvement and distant metastasis. These results suggest that telomerase play an important role for pancreatic duct carcinogenesis.