Expression Of Telomerase In Surgically Removed No⑦ Lymph Nodes And Its Diagnostic Value On Micrometastases In Patients With Gastric Carcinoma

Objective:To study the relationship between the expression of telomerase in pathology negative No(7) lymph nodes from patients with gastric carcinoma and micrometastases. Methods:A total of 109 No(7) lymph nodes histologically free of metastasis from 46 patients were assayed for telomerase activity by TRAP(telomeric repeat amplification protocol)-ELISA(enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) . The clinical pathologic data of patients was analysed statistically. ResultS :Micrometastases were obserbed in 34 lymph nodes(31. 2%) of 20 patients( 43. 5%) by TRAP-ELISA. The sensi t i vi ty, specificity, positive-predictive value, negative-predictive value and accuracy of TRAP-ELISA is 100%, 87%, 68%, 100% and 90% respectively. The presence of micrometastases was closely correlated with the size , general style and invasion depth of primary tumor ( P<0. 05 ) , but was not correlated with age,sex, histological style, location of the primary tumor and nodule type (P>0.05) . Conclusion: (1)Micrometastases could be identified by the positive expression of telomerase in pathology negative-nodes. Telomerase is more sensitive than routine histology and useful to accurately determine the clinical stageand prognosis of patients suffering from gastric carci noma. (2)The presence of micrometastases was closely correlated with the size , general style and invasion depth of primary tumor, hut was not correlated with age, sex, histological style, location of the primary tumor and nodule type.