The role of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression in cancer progression and as a diagnostic biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background

Telomerase is composed of a rate-limiting telomerase reverse transcriptase catalytic subunit and an RNA template component. Telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is an essential unit of telomerase. The study aimed to immunohistochemically analyze the expression of hTERT in different grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma in relation to the clinicopathological findings.

Methodology

Tissues procured from 60 histopathologically confirmed cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma were subjected to immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of hTERT. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Chi-square test was employed to compare the staining intensity between the groups. Kappa analysis was done to measure the interobserver agreement (κ = 0.84).

Results

The size of the tumor ranged from 1.5 cm to 5.5 cm approximately. Regional lymph node metastasis was noted in 2 patients with poorly differentiated OSCC. Distant metastasis was not identified in any of the enrolled patients. 54/60 OSCC patients showed hTERT expression.

Conclusion

Though we did not find a significant difference in hTERT expression in our study, the role of hTERT in cancer progression and the increase in expression from well-differentiated OSCC to poorly differentiated OSCC suggests that hTERT can serve as a diagnostic biomarker in early stages of OSCC.