Weak telomerase activity in malignant cells in metastatic serous effusions - Correlation to short survival time

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the intensity of telomerase activity measured on the cellular level in effusions correllates to survival time in cases of metastatic spread to the serous cavities. Study Design Telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) in situ was applied to 46 effusions containing metastatic cancer cells. Results Weak telomerase activity in tumor cells was seen in 7 cases, and moderate or strong activity in 39 cases. The intensity of the enzyme activity correlated significantly to survival (Kaplan-Meier survival analysis), the median survival time being 18 days for patients with weakly positive tumors and 100 days for patients with moderately or strongly positive tumors (Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0.021). Conclusion The strong relationship between telomerase activity in tumor cells in effusions and survival time has never been described before. Determination of telomerase activity on the cellular level provides a way to identify a subgroup of patients with a high probability of short survival. (Less)