QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT OF TELOMERASE ACTIVITY IN LYMPHADENOPATHY - CORRELATION WITH HISTOLOGIC FEATURES AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-1 INFECTION

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that uses its internal RNA component as a template for synthesis of telomeric DNA on the ends of chromosom es after each round of cell division. It is expressed in approximately 90% of all human cancers tested to date, as well as in most immortal cell lines. Recently, telomerase activity was detected in normal proli ferating lymphoid tissue and in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) by use of the telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay, a qualitative me asure of telomerase activity. In this study, we modified the assay to measure quantitatively the telomerase activity in lymph node biopsy sp ecimens obtained from patients with lymphadenopathy. The lymph nodes e ither contained benign reactive changes, were involved by NHL of B-cel l Lineage, or were involved by Hodgkin's disease. Telomerase activity was detected in all of our samples, benign as well as malignant. The l evels of activity were unaffected by the patient's human immunodeficie ncy virus-1 status. Although the specimens involved by NHLs showed a r ange in telomerase activity from low to high, the levels did not corre late strictly with the histologic grade according to the Working Formu lation. All of the cases of Hodgkin's disease also expressed telomeras e activity, and the levels were similar regardless of histologic subty pe, Our results showed that telomerase activity was expressed in both benign and malignant lymphoproliferative processes.