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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 3, 2013
Detection of telomerase activity in human prostate: a diagnostic marker for prostatic cancer?
D K Scates1, G H Muir, S Venitt
1Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Institute of Cancer Research, Royal Cancer Hospital, Sutton, UK.
Objective:
To assess the role of telomerase activity as a marker for the development of prostate cancer in men with existing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a known risk factor for prostatic carcinoma.
Materials And Methods:
Telomerase activity was assayed, using a highly sensitive polymerase-chain reaction-based assay, in nine biopsies from patients with prostatic cancer, 16 from patients clinically diagnosed with BPH and 11 from patients with no evidence of prostatic disease.
Results:
Telomerase activity was detectable in eight of the nine prostate cancer biopsies, in none of the normal prostates and in six of the 16 BPH biopsies.
Conclusion:
The finding of telomerase activity in six of 16 biopsies from patients with BPH could indicate early prostate cancer and suggests that telomerase activity may be of use as a biomarker in patients diagnosed with BPH and who may subsequently develop prostate cancer.
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