Suehara N, Mizumoto K, Muta T, Tominaga Y, Shimura H, Kitajima S, Hamasaki N, Tsuneyoshi M, Tanaka M
Departments of Surgery 1, Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, and Pathology 2, Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka 812-82, Japan.
Clin Cancer Res. 1997 Jun;3(6):993-8.
Telomerase activity was measured in surgically resected tissues of 20 human pancreatic ductal carcinomas, 12 adenomas, 5 pancreatitis tissues, 14 normal pancreatic ducts, and 13 normal pancreatic tissues (primarily made up of acinar cells) using a PCR-based telomerase assay. Relative telomerase activity was expressed as the equivalent telomerase intensity of the number of cells of a human pancreatic cancer cell line, MIA PaCa-2, per microgram of protein in the tissue samples. The median value (25th percentile, 75th percentile) of relative telomerase activity in pancreatic carcinomas was 13.2 (3.58, 244), which was significantly higher relative to normal tissues, normal ducts, pancreatitis tissues, and adenomas (P < 0.0001). When the cutoff value of relative telomerase activity was set at 1.00 and 3.00, the positivity rates of telomerase activity in pancreatic ductal carcinomas were 100 and 80%, respectively. Some of the adenoma samples displayed a weak telomerase ladder. However, when semiquantitatively analyzed, the relative telomerase activity of all adenoma tissues was less than 1.00 equivalent cells per microgram protein of the tissues, which was equivalent to the values encountered in normal ducts. Thus, our results indicate that reactivation of telomerase may occur at a late stage of pancreatic ductal carcinogenesis. Therefore, telomerase may be a specific marker for distinguishing pancreatic cancer from pancreatitis and adenomas.
采用基于聚合酶链反应（PCR）的端粒酶检测法，对20例人胰腺导管癌、12例腺瘤、5例胰腺炎组织、14例正常胰腺导管及13例正常胰腺组织（主要由腺泡细胞组成）的手术切除组织进行端粒酶活性检测。相对端粒酶活性以每微克组织样本蛋白中相当于人胰腺癌细胞系MIA PaCa-2细胞数的端粒酶强度表示。胰腺癌中相对端粒酶活性的中位数（第25百分位数，第75百分位数）为13.2（3.58，244），相对于正常组织、正常导管、胰腺炎组织及腺瘤显著更高（P<0.0001）。当相对端粒酶活性的临界值设定为1.00和3.00时，胰腺导管癌中端粒酶活性的阳性率分别为100%和80%。部分腺瘤样本显示出微弱的端粒酶梯带。然而，经半定量分析，所有腺瘤组织的相对端粒酶活性均低于每微克组织蛋白1.00个等效细胞，这与正常导管中的值相当。因此，我们的结果表明端粒酶的重新激活可能发生在胰腺导管癌发生的晚期。所以，端粒酶可能是区分胰腺癌与胰腺炎及腺瘤的特异性标志物。
