Journal
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER
Volume 117, Issue 3, Pages 353-357Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2017.166
Keywords
telomerase; hTERT; exosomes
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Funding
- Varda and Boaz Dotan Research Center in Haemato-Oncology affiliated
- CBRC at the Tel-Aviv University
- Research Authority at the Rabin Medical Center
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Background: Telomerase (human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)) is considered a hallmark of cancer. The aim of our study was to evaluate the feasibility of the detection of hTERT transcripts in serum as a 'pan-cancer' diagnostic method. Methods: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA levels were determined in serum and serum-derived exosomes from 133 patients with different malignancies and 45 healthy controls. In four patients hTERT mRNA levels were measured in different clinical stages. Results: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase transcript was absent in all controls and was variably detected in 67.5% of patients with all cancer types. A correlation between hTERT transcript levels and the clinical course was found in several cases. Conclusions: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA levels may reflect the tumour burden and the clinical status of the patient. In patients with detectable levels, this assay may potentially serve as a diagnostic and follow-up 'pan-cancer' marker. Owing to the large variety of patients and small sample size in each diagnosis, the statistical power is limited and will be explored further in larger groups.
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