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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Telomerase Activity in Kaposi's Sarcoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Basal Cell Carcinoma

Ziping Chen^*, Kathleen J. Smith, Henry G. Skelton, III, Terry L. Barrett^||, Herbert T. Greenway, Jr.^¶ and Shyh-Ching Lo^,1

^* American Registry of Pathology and
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, District of Columbia 20306;
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20889;
Laboratory Corporation of America, Herndon, Virginia 20171;
^|| Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland 21287;
^¶ Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California 92037

Patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) often develop Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), an unusual skin tumor. The malignant nature of KS has long been disputed. Telomerase activity that maintains telomere length and ensures chromosomal stability, a frequently appearing marker in human malignancies, has been proposed to play a critical role in supporting continued cell growth, hence formation of tumors. We examined telomerase activity in tissue extracts from 22 KS, 10 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 22 basal cell carcinoma (BCC) using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP). All of the tumor tissues were previously cryopreserved at -80°C. In this study, all tumor samples tested were positive for telomerase activity. Consistent with the presence of the enzyme activity, the skin tumors had relatively long telomeres. Inhibitors in the tissue extracts of some samples needed to be diluted or extracted by phenol before the enzyme activity was detected in the TRAP assay. All KS as well as two other skin carcinoma samples revealed positive telomerase activity. Our finding supports telomerase's role in tumor cell immortality and suggests the true neoplastic nature of KS.

Key Words: telomerase • Kaposi's sarcoma • malignancy

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