A prospective evaluation of the diagnostic and potential prognostic utility of urinary human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA in patients with bladder cancer
Les Bowles1,2, Hanna Bialkowska-Hobrzanska1,2,3,4, Bernard Bukala5, Linda Nott5, Hassan Razvi2,5
Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.11, No.6, pp. 2438-2444, 2004
Abstract Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA
expression has been considered a surrogate marker for
telomerase activity based on its parallel detection in
urological malignancies, including transitional cell
carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. The objective of this
study was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic
performance of urine hTERT mRNA marker and urine
cytology in the detection of bladder cancer.
The multiplex hTERT/GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-
phosphate dehydrogenase) reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was employed
to assess hTERT mRNA expression in urine sediments
from 43 patients with clinically apparent TCC undergoing
transurethral resection. Tumor grade and pathological
stage… More >