Consistent Decrease in Telomere Length in Parathyroid Tumors but Alteration in Telomerase Activity Limited to Malignancies: Preliminary Report

• Published in: World Journal of Surgery Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 1083 - 1087
• Main Authors: Kammori, Makoto, Nakamura, Ken‐Ichi, Kanauchi, Hajime, Obara, Takao, Kawahara, Masaki, Mimura, Yoshikazu, Kaminishi, Michio, Takubo, Kaiyo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley 01.09.2002; Springer‐Verlag; Springer; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Adenoma; Adenoma - enzymology; Adenoma - pathology; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Endocrinopathies; Female; General aspects; Humans; Hyperplasia; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Non tumoral diseases. Target tissue resistance. Benign neoplasms; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; Parathyroid Glands; Parathyroid Glands - enzymology; Parathyroid Glands - pathology; Parathyroid Neoplasms; Parathyroid Neoplasms - enzymology; Parathyroid Neoplasms - pathology; Parathyroids. Parafollicular cells. Cholecalciferol. Phosphocalcic homeostasis (diseases); Telomere; Telomere - pathology; Endocrinopathy; Human; Enzyme; Exploration; Tumoral marker; Adenoma; Malignant tumor; Telomere; Enzymatic activity; Parathyroid diseases; Length; Genetics; Parathyroid glands; Benign neoplasm; Telomerase; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0364-2313; 1432-2323
• DOI: 10.1007/s00268-002-6409-2

Telomerase is known to be activated and telomere length altered in various types of malignant and benign tumors, but whether this is also the case for parathyroid lesions has hitherto been unclear. We therefore investigated telomerase activity and telomere length in 3 parathyroid metastatic cancers, 6 adenomas, 2 cases of parathyroid hyperplasia, and 16 samples of normal parathyroid tissue. Telomerase activity, assayed by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol, was detected in all of the parathyroid cancers (100%), in none of the 8 parathyroid benign lesions, and in only 1 of the 16 normal parathyroid samples (8.3%). Telomere length, determined by the terminal restriction fragment assay, was reduced in the tumor tissues with a mean telomere length of 8.23 ± 0.86 kbp compared with the 12.61 ± 0.81 kbp for the 16 age‐matched subjects (p = 0.002). The results indicate that telomerase activity and telomere length may reflect the biologic behavior of individual parathyroid lesions.