부산대학교 도서관

To evaluate its utility as a supplemental diagnostic aid, we measured telomerase activity in bronchial lavage specimens of 33 lung cancer cases and 15 non-lung cancer cases by the non-RI TRAP method. Lung cancers showed a higher proportion of positive telomerase activity (78.8%) than non-lung cancer cases (26.7%). The proportion of positive telomerase activity in lung cancers by histological typing was squamous cell carcinoma 88.9%, adenocarcinoma 81.3%, large cell carcinoma 50%, and small cell carcinoma 66.7%, respectively. When divided by cytological appearance, the proportion of positive telomerase activity was class II 36.4%, class III 33.3%, class N and V 91.3%, suggesting that the proportion of positive telomerase activity increases as the grade of cytologic abnormality rises (Spearman: p =0.0001). Class II cases finally diagnosed as lung cancer showed a higher proportion of positive telomerase activity (57.1%) than nonlung cancer cases (26.7%). These results suggest that the measurement of telomerase activity in the cells of bronchial lavage fluid may be useful as a supplemental diagnostic aid for lung cancers, particularly in cases negative on cytological examination.