Abstract:

 Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） in gastric cancer tissues. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure levels of hTERT mRNA in gastric tissues，while MaxVision^TM  immunohistochemistry was used to detect expression of hTERT protein in gastric tissue sections. Possible correlations of hTERT mRNA and protein levels with clinicopathological characteristics and with patient survival were explored. Results The mRNA encoding hTERT was overexpressed in gastric caner tissues and adjacent tumor tissues（P<0.05），while the rate of hTERT protein-positive staining was significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues（83.3%） than in normal tissues （40.0%，P<0.05）. Levels of hTERT mRNA correlated positively with protein levels（r=0.733，P<0.05）. Up-regulation of hTERT was significantly associated with lymph node metastases，distant metastases and TNM stage（P<0.05）. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed significantly higher survival rates for patients expressing low levels of hTERT than for those expressing high levels（P=0.015）. Conclusions These results suggest that hTERT is overexpressed in gastric cancer tissues，and that such overexpression is associated with gastric cancer progression. Assaying hTERT levels may provide an indicator of disease progression and prognosis.

Key words: Gastric neoplasm, Human telomerase reverse transcriptase, Quantitative real-time PCR, Immunohistochemistry, Expression, Prognosis