The expression of telomerase activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To investigate the expression of the telomerase activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.Methods The activity of telomerase in primary foci,paratumor tissue,blood and sputum of30patients with non-small cell lung cancer were measured with PCR-TRAP;the results were compared with those of25cases of benign lung diseases.Results In the control group,the telomerase activity in normal lung tissue and peripheral blood was negative,the positive rate of activity was24.0%(6/25)in sputum.In the cancer group,the positive rate in primary foci,peripheral blood and sputum were83.3%(25/30),33.3%(10/30)and56.7%(17/30)respectively,but negative in paratumor tissue.The positive rate between two groups was signif-icantly different(P0.05).Conclusions(1)In patients with non-small cell lung cancer,the activity of telomerase expressed in primary foci,sputum and peripheral blood.(2)Detecting the activity of telomerase in sputum may be used in differential diagnosis between benign and malignant lung diseases.