[Telomerase in diseases of the digestive system]

Synthesis of dezoxyrybonucleic acid at the ends of chromosomes by telomerase is the main process leading to indefinite cell proliferation. In contrary to majority of malignant tissues the telomerase activity is not detected in the most somatic cells. Detection of telomerase may be than an alternative to widely used diagnostic markers. It is proved that detection of telomerase activity is a useful method supporting cytology. Recent data confirm the correlation between the value of enzyme activity and progress of some cancers of digestive system. Therefore telomerase could play an important role in screening programs. Actually, the methods of detecting the enzyme activity are expensive and time consuming so their application in everyday clinical practice is limited. Simple immunohistochemical and immunoenzymatic methods are tested. New therapeutic procedures become available after describing the role of telomerase in carcinogenesis. The telomerase inhibitors are supposed to play an important role in the therapy of cancer. Such therapy could be efficacious in majority of cancers in which carcinogenesis depends on telomerase activation. Telomerase inhibitors are likely to be used in connection with surgery and followed by radio- or/and chemotherapy but the potentials of antitelomerase therapy should be defined more accurately.