[Telomere length and telomerase activity in hepatocellular carcinoma].

Telomerase activity and terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length were examined in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Telomerase activity was assayed by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) connected with an internal telomerase assay standard (ITAS). The incidence of strong telomerase activity (highly variable level compared with the activity of non-cancerous liver tissue) was 79% in well, 84% in moderately, and 100% in poorly differentiated HCC, while 0% in non-cancerous liver tissues.

Alteration of telomeric repeat length in hepatocellular carcinoma is independent of telomerase activity.

Length of terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) was examined in 34 samples from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. TRF length alterations (reduction or elongation) were found in 18 of 34 (53%) HCC nodules (13 cases reduced, 5 cases elongated). The incidence of TRF alteration was significantly higher in HCC exceeding 3 cm in diameter, moderately- or poorly-differentiated in histology, or with microscopic aggressive lesions (P<0.

Significance of telomerase activity in the diagnosis of small differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Precise diagnosis of well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is sometimes difficult to establish. Telomerase activity was examined by telomeric-repeat-amplification protocol (TRAP) in 37 HCC nodules smaller than 3 cm in diameter, including 24 fine-needle-aspiration biopsy specimens, 22 non-tumor chronic-liver-disease tissues (9 chronic hepatitis and 13 liver cirrhosis) and 3 normal liver tissues. Telomerase activity was assayed by serially diluted samples and quantitated by using an internal telomerase assay standard (ITAS).

Telomerase in hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Despite the recent advances in diagnostic techniques of HCC, diagnosis of HCC is still difficult and ambiguous when HCC is small and of the well differentiated type. The results presented here demonstrated that strong telomerase activity was frequently detected in HCC irrespective of the stage or size of the nodules but neither in non-tumor diseased liver nor in normal liver. Telomerase activity determination can be a useful additional tool for the diagnosis of early well-differentiated HCC.