Human telomerase reverse transcriptase expression and its clinical significance in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Conclusions. Upregulation of hTERT mRNA plays an important role during the occurrence and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Most hTERT mRNA in plasma from patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma is derived from tumour cells; moreover, the determination of plasma hTERT mRNA contributes to tumour diagnosis and the observation of curative effect. Objectives. To establish a real-time fluorescent reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and to quantitate the level of human telomerase reverse transcriptase ( hTERT) mRNA in carcinoma tissue and plasma from patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We also wished to evaluate the role that hTERT mRNA expression plays during the occurrence and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, to probe the correlation between the expression level and the clinical and pathological parameters and to investigate the value of the determination of plasma hTERT mRNA in tumour diagnosis and the observation of curative effect. Material and Methods. A real-time fluorescent RT-PCR and a Lightcycler PCR system were used to quantitate the expression level of hTERT mRNA. Results. The expression levels of hTERT mRNA (NhTERT) from laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissue were 62.6 +/- 21.7 and 3.5 +/- 1.9, respectively. N-hTERT was significantly elevated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue, rising to 17.9-fold on average, but there was no significant correlation between NhTERT and either tumour location, differentiation degree, T grade or N grade. For healthy examinees, N-hTERT in plasma was 1.3 +/- 0.9, compared to 13.1 +/- 9.4 and 9.3 +/- 5.8 in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma examined before and 2 days after surgery, respectively. Compared to healthy examinees, N-hTERT in plasma from patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma was significantly elevated; moreover, 2 days after surgery, N-hTERT in plasma had decreased significantly in these patients.