Quantitative telomerase activity in malignant, benign and normal gynecological tissues.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate quantitative telomerase activity in malignant, benign and normal gynecological tissue samples by using the Telomerase-PCR ELISA kit, and to determine a cut-off level for malignancy by this quantitative method.

Materials And Methods: Fifty gynecological tumors, 27 benign gynecological disorders and 29 normal tissues were analyzed by the Telomerase-PCR ELISA kit. All tissues were confirmed by a pathologist. A ROC (receiver operator characteristic) curve was drawn to determine a threshold level best discriminating malignant tissues from benign pathologies and normal tissues. Telomerase activity was compared in malignant, benign and normal tissues.

Results: The mean level of telomerase activity of the malignant tumor samples (1.03 +/- 0.53 units) was significantly (p < .001) higher than the normal tissues (0.13 +/- 0.07 units) and benign pathologies (0.37 +/- 0.25 units). The cut-off point to differentiate malignant samples from benign samples was set at 0.42 units, where the sensitivity was 93.8% and the specificity was 89.3%. Positive predictive value was 84% and negative predictive value was 89.3%. There was a significant difference in telomerase activity between malignant, benign and normal tissues within each histological group.

Conclusion: In this preliminary study, the telomerase-PCR ELISA method was found to have a high sensitivity and specificity to differentiate malignant gynecological tissues from benign tissues.