TELOMERASE ACTIVITY IN HODGKINS-DISEASE

Telomerase activity has been demonstrated in various types of cancers including lymphoid neoplasms. The tumour specificity of telomerase act ivity has been a subject of debate since the description of detectable enzymatic activity in non neoplastic tissues, We and others have demo nstrated that such activity was present in non Hodgkin's lymphomas as well as in reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes and tonsils.However, we a t the same time were surprised by the absence of telomerase activity i n most cases of Hodgkin's disease, We have extended our previous study by adding additional cases and confirm that in the majority of cases, Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells lack telomerase activity (only 2 cas es positive out of 20). These results may indicate that the tumour cel ls of Hodgkin's disease evolve different pathways for maintaining the length of their telomeres during the process of becoming immortal.