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High Expression of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase in High-Grade Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Carcinoma of Uterine Cervix and Its Correlation With Human Papillomavirus Infection

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Abstract

Most of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 (CIN 1) will regress and 12% to 40% of high-grade CIN may progress to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix. However, the differentiation of CIN 1 and high-grade CIN is sometimes controversial among pathologists. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is therefore applied to detect the differences among normal, CIN 1, high-grade CIN, and SCC tissues of uterine cervix. One hundred six cervical specimens were collected for immunohistochemical study of hTERT. These data were compared with the human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA status. Expression of hTERT in high-grade CIN increased significantly compared to that in CIN 1 (P < .001). A positive relationship was found between high hTERT expression and degree of malignant transformation (P < .001). Most of the cases with high hTERT expression tested positive for the high-risk HPV groups. High hTERT expression was detected in 88.73% of the samples with cervical high-grade CIN or SCC. Low hTERT expression was found in 94.29% of low-grade CIN or normal tissues. Furthermore, 96.92% of the cervical tissues with high hTERT expression were high-grade CIN or SCC. A total of 80.49% of samples with low hTERT expression were low-grade CIN or normal tissues. A significantly increased hTERT expression between CIN 1 and high-grade CIN exhibits a critical progression in cervical carcinogenesis. hTERT can be offered as additional molecular information correlated with more severe dysplasia and SCC. Furthermore, this increased hTERT expression is correlated w high-risk HPVs infection.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. L-YL and J-LK contributed equally as the corresponding authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Po-Hui Wang MD, PhD, Gin-Den Chen MD & Long-Yau Lin MD, PhD

  2. School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Po-Hui Wang MD, PhD, Gin-Den Chen MD, Han Chang MD, PhD & Long-Yau Lin MD, PhD

  3. Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Po-Hui Wang MD, PhD, Han Chang MD, PhD, Shun-Fa Yang PhD & Long-Yau Lin MD, PhD

  4. Department of Pathology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Han Chang MD, PhD

  5. Clinical Research Center, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Ping Han MD, PhD

  6. Institute of Medical and Molecular Toxicology, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Section 1, Chien-Kuo North Road, Taichung, 40201, Taiwan

    Jiunn-Liang Ko PhD

Authors
  1. Po-Hui Wang MD, PhD
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  2. Gin-Den Chen MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiunn-Liang Ko PhD.

Additional information

Grant support was provided by Chung Shan Medical University (funding no. CSMU 93-OM-B-025, CSMU 94-OM-B-030). Taiwan Molecular Diagnostic Laboratories Ltd offered the technical assistance for nested polymerase chain reaction-based genechip.

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Wang, PH., Chen, GD., Chang, H. et al. High Expression of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase in High-Grade Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Carcinoma of Uterine Cervix and Its Correlation With Human Papillomavirus Infection. Reprod. Sci. 14, 338–348 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719107303986

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719107303986

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