Telomerase activity is upregulated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective/Hypothesis: The immortalizing enzyme telomerase has been linked to carcinogenesis and is being targeted as a novel molecular marker. This study investigated telomerase expression in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and correlated telomerase activity with conventional prognostic parameters. Study Design: A consecutive series of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing surgical salvage for persistent or progressive disease after failed radiation therapy. Methods: Twenty patient samples of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and 20 adjacent histologically normal mucosal samples were assayed using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) method for detection of telomerase activity. The leukemic cell line, K562, acted as a positive control and the human fibroblast line, Hs21Fs, as a negative control. A sample was classified as telomerase positive when an RNase-sensitive hexameric repeat ladder was observed. Absence of laddering was considered a negative result. Results: Seventeen of 20 (85%) tumor samples and 4 of 20 (20%) adjacent histologically normal samples were telomerase positive. No statistically significant difference was observed when densitometric readings were compared by T category, tumor grade, or site (by ANOVA). Conclusions: Although telomerase activity is present in laryngeal cancer, levels of activation do not correlate with conventional parameters used for prognostication, Our study indicates that the marker may be a useful adjunctive method in the diagnosis of malignancy after radiation failure.