Telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma by modified telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay.

Background: Previous assessments by the conventional telomeric repeat amplification protocol have not been reliable for the quantitation of telomerase activity. We, therefore, determined telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissue by the modified sensitive telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. Methods: Telomerase activity was examined in 23 cases of RCC and in the adjacent normal kidney tissue, and assessed for associations with clinical and pathological variables of the disease. Results: The linearity and quantitation of the modified method was confirmed. Mean telomerase activity of RCC (1987.889 ± 1232.801 units) was significantly greater than that of normal renal tissue (173.467 ± 241.893 units) (P = 0.0001). Telomerase activity in RCC was, however, not associated with clinical or pathological variables such as clinical stage (P = 0.8941), grade (P = 0.8043) or pathological subtype (P = 0.9739). Conclusion: The results suggest that telomerase might play a crucial role in an initial step of the development of RCC, but not in the progression of the disease.