Telomerase-A molecular marker for cervical cancer screening

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biochemistry
• Gynecology

Background:

• Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in women.
• Papanicolaou smear and HPV testing improve detection but have limitations.
• Novel biomarkers are needed for enhanced cervical cancer screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate telomerase activity as a potential screening marker for cervical cancer.
• To compare telomerase activity with HPV 16/18 infection and cytopathology.
• To assess telomerase's utility in detecting early-stage and metastatic gynecological malignancies.

Main Methods:

• Assayed telomerase activity in 88 subjects including cervical cancer cases, precancerous lesions, and controls.
• Correlated telomerase activity with HPV 16/18 status, Papanicolaou smear results, and histopathology.
• Evaluated diagnostic accuracy of telomerase assay versus HPV testing.

Main Results:

• Telomerase activity detected in 96.5% of cervical tumors and 68.7% of precancerous samples.
• Telomerase was absent in healthy controls and non-cancerous hysterectomy samples.
• Telomerase assay demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy (91.2% overall), outperforming HPV-16/18 subtyping (82.1% overall).
• Telomerase activity showed 71% agreement with HPV-16/18 infection.

Conclusions:

• Telomerase activity is a sensitive marker for cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.
• The absence of telomerase in healthy individuals supports its role in early diagnosis.
• Telomerase assay shows potential for detecting micro and occult metastases in gynecological cancers.