Open AccessQuantification of plasma hTERT DNA in hepatocellular carcinoma patients by quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction
Author(s) -
Ying-Jun Yang,
Hui Chen,
Ping Huang,
Chenghua Li,
Zihe Dong,
Yu-Lei Hou
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
clinical and investigative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.391
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1488-2353
pISSN - 0147-958X
DOI - 10.25011/cim.v34i4.15366
Subject(s) - telomerase reverse transcriptase , hepatocellular carcinoma , polymerase chain reaction , malignancy , medicine , real time polymerase chain reaction , hepatitis b virus , reverse transcriptase , microbiology and biotechnology , telomerase , cancer , gastroenterology , pathology , chemistry , virology , biology , virus , gene , biochemistry
Purpose: To investigate the levels of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) DNA in the plasma of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to evaluate the diagnostic value and correlation of hTERT DNA with clinical parameters in HCC. Methods: A real-time quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) system was designed and evaluated. Plasma samples were collected from 60 HCC patients, 21 patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 29 healthy controls. Plasma DNA was extracted and quantied by FQ-PCR. The diagnostic value of plasma hTERT DNA levels and their relationships with clinical characteristics were analyzed statistically. Results: Plasma levels of hTERT DNA in HCC patients were significantly higher than in HBV patients (4.18×104±4.94×104 copies/μl vs 1.21×104±6.63×103 copies/μl, P=0.003) and healthy controls (4.18×104±4.94×104 copies/μl vs 1.44×104±6.61×103 copies/μl, P 0.05). The levels of plasma hTERT DNA in HCC patients with AFP ≤20 ng/ml were significantly higher than in HBV patients (4.59×104±4.98×104 copies/μl vs 1.44×104±6.63×103 copies/μl, P=0.016) and in healthy controls (4.59×104±4.98×104 copies/μl vs 1.21×104±6.63×103 copies/μl, P=0.001).Conclusions: Quantitation of plasma hTERT DNA by FQ-PCR may provide a novel complementary tool with potential clinical applications for the screening and detection of HCC. Plasma hTERT DNA has the potential to be a broad tumor marker for common cancers.