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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
Published on: May 22, 2013
[A study on the telomerase activity in lung cancer and its clinical significance.]
1Cancer Center and Cancer Institute , The First University Hospital , West China University of Medical Sciences , Chengdu , Sichuan 610041 , P. R. China.
Background:
To investigate the telomerase activity in human lung cancer and its clinical significance.
Methods:
Sixty human lung cancer specimens (NSCLC 45 , SCLC 15) , seven tuberculosis specimens and seven inflammatory pesudotumor were examined for telomerase activity by means of TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification protocol) based on polymerase chain reaction.
Results:
In NSCLC , telomerase positivity was 73. 3 %(33/ 45) with weak to moderate activity (172 TPG) , whereas 14 of 15 SCLC (93. 3 %) were positive with strong activity (288 TPG) , and all tuberculosis and inflammatory pseudotumor were telomerase negativity. The telomerase activity was significantly higher in SCLC than that in NSCLC ( P < 0. 05) , and was closely associated with the differentiation , size of the cancer , lymph node metastasis , and TNM staging ( P < 0. 05) .
Conclusions:
The results suggest that telomerase may be regarded as one of the prognostic factor in lung cancer.
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