A.Telomere DNA Content, Telomerase and c-Myc Amplification in Breast Carcinoma

摘要

The difference between metastatic and localized breast cancer are not known. However, genetic instability is a poor prognostic factor in many types of cancer, implying that processes that lead to the gain, loss, or rearrangement of genomic DNA are important in the evolution of cancer. Telomeres are protein-DNA Complexes that cap the ends of linear chromosomes, protecting them from degradation and fusion. In most cells a number of processes lead to the cumulative reduction of telomere length and cell cycle arrest. Some cells, including cancer progenitor cells, are able to up regulate telomerase, the enzyme that adds telomere repeats, and bypass cell cycle arrest. The purpose of this study is to determine if it is possible to differentiate patients with aggressive metastatic breast carcinoma from those with a less aggressive localized disease using telomere DNA content as a prognostic marker. To that end it is important to ascertain what effect telomerase has on telomere DNA content. Here we report that telomere DNA content predicts outcome in breast tumors and in tumor-adjacent normal breast tiddue and that high levels of hTERT mRNA are correlated with known prognostic markers including: tumor grade, S-phase, pliody and metastasis.