Background: To investigate the relationship between telomarase activity and primary lung cancer.
Methods: Telomerase activity was detected in 24 primary lung cancer tissues and 6 benign neoplasms of the lungs by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP)-PCR-ELISA and TRAP-silver staining.
Results: The levels of telomerase activity in primary lung cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in benign neoplasms. Positive rate of telomerase activity in lung cancer tissues was 75 %. The level of telomerase activity in squmaous cell carcinomas was significantly higher than that in adenocarcinomas ( t = 2. 235 , P < 0. 05) . The positive rate of telomerase was 50 % in stage II lung cancer and 92. 3 % in stage III disease.
Conclusions: Telomerase expression might be involved in the oncogenesis and progression of lung cancer and could be used as a tumor marker in the diagnosis of lung cancer.