Clinical usefulness of telomerase activity and telomere length in the preoperative diagnosis of gastric and colorectal cancer

It has been reported that telomerase activity and telomeric reduction can be detected in many human cancers. Although it is well known that telomerase activity and telomere length have important implications for cancer biology, their clinical usefulness in the preoperative diagnosis of gastric and colorectal cancer has not been elucidated. Therefore, we examined telomerase activity and telomere length in gastric and colorectal cancer using tissue samples obtained by fiberscopy. Telomerase activity was measured by a telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP). Although telomerase activity was detected in 1/12 (8%) cases of gastric polyp and in 2/9 (22%) cases of colorectal polyp, its positivity in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer was 7/10 (70%) and 21/26 (81%; P < 0.0003 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Telomere length was analyzed by Southern blotting, and telomeric reduction in gastric cancer was significantly greater than that in gastric polyp (P < 0.0003). However, there was no telomeric reduction between colorectal cancer and colorectal polyp. The results of the present study indicate that determination of telomerase activity and telomere length may serve as a useful method for preoperative diagnosis of gastric and colorectal cancer.