Diagnostic value of human telomerase for detection of squamous cell carcinoma in oral smears

Human telomerase has been associated with most malignant tumors such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity. One simple non-aggressive method for early diagnosis of oral SCC is taking smears. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of telomerase expression in smears of oral SCC, compared with normal mucosa. Methods & Materials: Smears were obtained from 18 subjects with SCC of different sites in the oral cavity, presenting with various degrees of malignancy. Control samples were taken from the contra-lateral normal epithelium of the same subjects. The expression of hTERT, the most reliable marker of telomerase activity, was registered by extracting RNA, performing RT-PCR and then nested PCR by specific primers. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the data. Positive expression of telomerase was detected in 8 of the 18 cases, while the normal epithelial samples demonstrated no such expression of telomerase. A significant difference in the expression of telomerase was reported between the two groups by Fisher’s Exact test (P<0.003). There is a potential for telomerase enzyme activity to act as a simple non – aggressive diagnostic tool in detection of oral SCC using smears of the lesion.Keywords: