Expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cell carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study with survivin and p53.

Context: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), an enzyme that enables cells to overcome replicative senescence and to divide indefinitely, is overexpressed in many cancers and their precursor lesions.

Objective: To test whether hTERT expression is related to neoplastic progression and resistance to apoptosis in vulvar epithelia.

Design: Immunoexpression of hTERT was evaluated in 101 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival vulvar epithelia consisting of normal squamous vulvar epithelia (n  =  25), lichen sclerosus (n  =  10), high-grade classic vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (n  =  16), differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (n  =  18), and vulvar invasive keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (n  =  32) and related to survivin and p53 expression.