[Detection of telomerase activity in the blood of patients with lung cancer].

BACKGROUND: To study the telomerase activity in blood cancer cells by TRAP for monitoring tumor metastasis in blood. METHODS: Twenty-five patients with lung cancer surgically treated and 35 patients before chemotherapy were determined for telomerase activity of cancer cells in the blood by TRAP, and 30 patients with non-tumor diseases as control. RESULTS: In the operative group,13 patients(52%) showed telomerase activity in pulmonary artery blood during operation, which was much higher than that of peripheral blood before operation (24%,P<0.05). Telomerase positive rate was significantly higher in stage III to IV (64%) than that in stage I to II (30%,P<0.05).In the peripheral blood of patients with non-tumor diseases, telomerase was negative. CONCLUSIONS: Telomerase activity may be an indicator for detecting lung cancer cells in peripheral blood as well as tumor metastasis and relapse.