Telomerase activity in colorectal cancer and its relationship to bcl-2 expression

Background and Objectives: Telomerase is thought to be responsible for cell immortality, and bcl-2 has been demonstrated to regulate apoptosis. Recent studies have shown a wide occurrence of telomerase activation and bcl-2 de regulation in human carcinoma cells. Methods: We examined telomerase activity in tissues from 50 patients with c olorectal carcinoma with a telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. W e also investigated the relationship between telomerase activity and expres sion of bcl-2 in 37 colorectal carcinoma specimens. Results: We detected telomerase activity in 33 (66%) of 50 colorectal carci nomas, whereas no activity was detected in the adjacent noncancerous mucosa of 13 tumor specimens. There was no correlation between pathological stage and telomerase activity. Telomerase activity in the bcl-2-expressing cases was higher than that in the bcl-2-non-expressing cases. Conclusions: Expression of bcl-2 may be related to telomerase activity in c olorectal carcinomas. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.