J Korean Med Sci.  2006 Feb;21(1):126-130. 10.3346/jkms.2006.21.1.126.

Prognostic Implication of Telomerase Activity in Patients with Brain Tumors

• Kim CH
• Cheong JH
• Bak KH
• Kim JM
• Oh SJ

• KMID: 2157795
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2006.21.1.126

Abstract

Telomerase adds telomeric repeats to the ends of telomeres to compensate for their progressive loss. A favorable prognosis is associated with low or no telomerase in some tumors. The authors investigated whether telomerase activity is associated with survival of patients with brain tumors. Sixty-two consecutive patients with brain tumors underwent surgery, and their surgical specimens were investigated. The patients were pathologically categorized as group I (aggressive group) and group II (non-aggressive group). Telomerase activity was examined by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay. The median time was calculated in association with overall survival and progression-free survival in each group. The significant difference was noted in telomerase activity between high-grade gliomas and lowgrade gliomas (p=0.022). Telomerase activity was significantly associated with the median overall survival and progression-free survival in all tumors of the aggressive group. On the other hand, the median overall survival in the non-aggressive group was not dependent on telomerase activity, while the median progression-free survival was. Our data suggests that telomerase is an important prognostic indicator of survival in patients with brain tumors.

Keyword

Brain Neoplasms; Glioma; Survival; Telomerase

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Brain Neoplasms/enzymology/genetics/*pathology
Child
Child, Preschool
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods
Prognosis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Survival Analysis
Telomerase/genetics/*metabolism

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 TRAP assay for telomerase activity in surgical specimens of brain tumors. TS oligonucleotides were amplified by PCR, with the downstream primer CX [5'-(CCCTTA)3 CCCTAA-3'] and the upstream primer TS, in the presence of internal TRAP assay standard. Reaction products were resolved on a 12.5% polyacrylamide gel. The positive control is shown in lane 1 and the molecular weight marker in lane 2. Telomerase activity is detected as a typical laddering pattern in glioblastomas (lane 3 and 4) and meningioma (lane 5).

• 

  Fig. 2 Comparison of telomerase activity between high-grade and low-grade gliomas (p=0.022). Gliomas were divided into two groups, high-grade gliomas including anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma, and low-grade glioma including astrocytoma.

• 

  Fig. 3 Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrating correlation of telomerase activity to the overall survival time in patients with brain tumors (p=0.0362).

• 

  Fig. 4 Kaplan-Meier curves showing the correlation of telomerase activity to the progression-free survival time in patients with brain tumors (p=0.0202).

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