Clinical usefulness of telomerase activation and telomere length in head and neck cancer

Patel, Mona; Parekh, L. J.; Jha, Franky P; Sainger, Rachana; Patel, J. D.; Patel, Devendra D.; Shah, Franky D.; Patel, Prabhudas S

doi:10.1002/hed.10169

Cited by 51 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…24 Patel et al studied telomere alterations by Southern blot analysis in tumor and adjacent normal tissues in 110 patients with head and neck cancer and 40 patients with precancerous and benign conditions. 20 Telomere lengths in this sample set were significantly lower in malignant tissues compared with the tumor adjacent normal tissues. In addition, while no significant correlation was observed between telomerase activation and clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients, 2-year disease-free survival analysis showed that patients with longer telomeres in malignant tissues had poor disease-free survival.…”

Section: Other Types Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Studies indicating the prognostic potential of telomeres have also been reported for head and neck cancer, 20 neuroblastomas 21 and glioblastomas. 24 Patel et al studied telomere alterations by Southern blot analysis in tumor and adjacent normal tissues in 110 patients with head and neck cancer and 40 patients with precancerous and benign conditions.…”

Section: Other Types Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 92%

“…42 Regardless of the methodology used, the following discussion shows that telomeres can be used as clinical biomarkers in the prognosis of solid tumors, as reported in numerous studies. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] These studies, and their major findings, are summarized in Table I and further discussed here in detail, according to the type of solid tumors analyzed.…”

Section: Methods Of Telomere Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[8][9][10][11] This review summarizes the use of telomere length or its proxies, such as telomere content, as potential prognostic markers in solid tumors, a possibility that has been raised in the last decade by a number of investigators. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] A corresponding comprehensive discussion of these promising developments has not yet been offered, in spite of the growing body of knowledge. Excluded from this discussion are numerous reports on the prognostic value of telomeres in hematological malignancies, a research area that, in contrast to solid tumors, has been addressed in more depth and previously reviewed.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these reasons, numerous investigators have hypothesized that altered telomere length could predispose cells to possess the properties necessary to metastasize and cause recurrent disease, and thereby be a predictor of clinical outcome. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] This concept is shown schematically in Figure 1.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Telomeres: Prognostic markers for solid tumors

Bisoffi

Heaphy

Griffith

2006

Intl Journal of Cancer

101

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Solid tumors continue to affect millions of people worldwide. Increasingly sophisticated diagnostic tools contribute to the high incidence rates for some tumor types, and treatment options continue to expand. However, the progression of solid tumors represents a challenge for the appropriate treatment of individual patients because of the relative inaccuracy of current prognostic markers, including the widely used Tumor-Nodes-Metastasis (TNM) staging system, to predict the course of disease. As a result, both over-and undertreatment are clinical realities in the management of patients diagnosed with solid tumors. Therefore, populationbased screening programs that increase the overall cancer incidence rates are controversial, as they may do little to improve the patient's quality of life. Consequently, there is a strong need to develop novel and independent markers of prognosis. In this context, we review the use of telomeres as prognostic markers for solid tumors, including cancers from lung, breast, prostate, colon, brain and head and neck. Telomeric sequences, the repetitive DNA at the end of human chromosomes, are mediators of genomic stability and can undergo length alterations during tumor initiation and progression. In a number of studies reviewed here, these alterations, measured as telomere attrition and elongation, have been shown either to be associated with clinical markers of disease progression or to be independent markers of cancer prognosis. We conclude from these studies that careful assessment of telomere length or its proxies, such as telomere DNA content, will be part of novel risk assessment and prognostic modalities for patients with solid tumors. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Section: Other Types Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Other Types Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Methods Of Telomere Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telomeres: Prognostic markers for solid tumors

Bisoffi

Heaphy

Griffith

2006

Intl Journal of Cancer

101

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Correlations of telomere length, telomerase activity, and telomeric‐repeat binding factor 1 expression in colorectal carcinoma

García-Aranda

Juan

Díaz‐López

et al. 2005

Cancer

118

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BACKGROUND Telomere maintenance has been proposed as an essential step for tumor cell immortalization. The objectives of the current study were to investigate the mechanisms implicated in telomere length in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and to evaluate the prognostic impact of telomere status. METHODS Ninety‐one colorectal carcinoma samples that were obtained from patients who underwent surgery were analyzed to investigate the factors related to telomere function. The authors studied telomerase activity, terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, and telomeric‐repeat binding factor (TRF1) expression and analyzed the prognostic implications of those factors. RESULTS Most tumors (81.3%) displayed telomerase activity. Overall, telomeres in CRC specimens were significantly shorter compared with telomeres in normal, adjacent specimens (P = 0.02). Moreover, tumors that demonstrated shortened telomeres displayed higher TRF1 levels than tumors without telomere shortening. In relation to patient prognosis, a significantly poor clinical course was observed in the group of patients who had tumors with longer telomeres (P = 0.02), and this finding emerged as an independent prognostic factor in a Cox proportional hazards model (P = 0.04; relative risk, 6.48). Among patients with tumors classified as telomerase‐positive, telomere length ratios (the ratio of tumor tissues to normal tissues) ≤ 0.66 or TRF1 over‐expression conferred a favorable outcome (P = 0.03 and P = 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The majority of CRC specimens in the current study displayed telomerase reactivation. However, only those tumors that displayed telomere elongation conferred a poor prognosis. Conversely, colorectal tumors that over‐expressed TRF1 demonstrated telomere shortening, and patients with those tumors had a better clinical course. Cancer 2006. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

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