Differential significance of telomerase activity in benign and malignant adrenal tumors

    FAN Jinª²Hai, SUN Junª²Zhao, HE Daª²Lin, HE Hui, XING Junª²Ping, NAN Xunª²Yi

    Department of Urology, First Hospital, Xi¬ðan Jiaotong University, Xi¬ðan 710061, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To determine whether tumors of the adrenal glands contain telomerase activity and whether telomerase activity can be used to differentiate benign adrenal tumors from malignant ones. METHODS: All tissue samples were obtained from 31 patients with adrenalectomy at the Department of Urology, the First Hospital, Xi¬ðan Jiaotong University. All specimens were rapidly frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80¡æ until assay. Telomerase activity was determined by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol enzymeª²linked immunoassay (TRAPª²ELISA). RESULTS: Of the 31 adrenal turmors, 6 (19.4%), in which 5 were malignant tumors, had telomerase activity. Of the telomerase positive samples, two were clinically known adrenocortical carcinoma, two were metastatic adrenal tumors (one from renal cell carcinoma, one from malignant neurinoma), one was malignant pheochromocytoma and one was nonª²functional cortical adrenoma. CONCLUSION: Benign adrenal tumors infrequently contain telomerase activity, whereas telomerase reactivation appears to be common in malignant tumors of the adrenal glands. The telomerase activity may facilitate the differentiation of benign from malignant adrenal tumors. ......