STUDY OF TELOMERASE ACTIVITY IN SPUTUM AND BRONCHIAL WASHING SAMPLES OF LUNG CANCER

Neha Sharma*

ABSTRACT

Objective: Diagnosis of lung cancer with conventional methods may sometimes be difficult in therapeutictrials.
Telomerase show a significant role in the maintenance of telomere length and chromosome integrity. In this study
we investigate the diagnostic value of telomerase activity in sputum and bronchial washings samples of patients
undergoing diagnosis of lung cancer. Method: Samples was collected from 58 patients whom suspected for lung
cancer and had evidence of lung pulmonarydisease, the diagnosis confirmed by cytological examination. Samples
were examined for telomerase activity was measured by a PCR-ELISA designed telomeric repeat amplification
protocol in lung cancer patients. Result: Out of 58 samples 48 samples of sputum and bronchial washing from
individuals of lung cancer patients and 10 from lung diseases were collected from individual. TA evaluation of
sputum carried sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of 80.9, 100%and 72.4% respectively, while that for
bronchial washing was 66.6, 88.8% and 70.0%, respectively. A significant correlation (P < 0.04) was found
between age and telomerase activity in sputum and bronchial washing samples but no positive association was
perceived between gender and telomerase activity. A significant relationship found between smoking habits with
telomerase activity (0.046). A positive correlation was also observed between staging and telomerase activity in
sputum and bronchial washing samples (P < 0.01). Our findings show that telomerase activity in sputum and BW is
a highly sensitive diagnostic biomarker for malignancy and it can be a complementary for cytology in the early
diagnosis of lung cancer. TA test for sputum can be a noble biomarker for early and non-invasive diagnosis of lung
cancer.

Keywords: Telomerase activity, lung cancer, sputum, Bronchial washing.