TELOMERASE GENE EXPRESSION IN URINARY BLADDER CARCINOMA

Abstract

Urinary bladder carcinoma (UBC) is the most prevalent malignancy of the urinary tract and is associated with high recurrence and mortality rates. Histologically, urothelial carcinoma is the predominant form, accounting for nearly 90% of all bladder cancer cases. One of the most frequent molecular alterations in malignant neoplasms, including UBC, is the abnormal activation of the telomerase gene.

This study aimed to quantitatively assess the expression of the TERT gene using Real-Time PCR in tissue samples obtained from patients with UBC. In total 34 patients, with histopathological confirmed urothelial bladder carcinoma, were included, along with a control group of 17 individuals without bladder malignancy.

The mean TERT gene expression level in the low-grade subgroup was 1.268 ± 0.472, compared to 2.137 ± 0.942 in the high-grade subgroup. This difference was statistically highly significant (p< 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with high-grade UBC were 7.39 times more likely to exhibit elevated TERT gene expression compared to those with low-grade UBC (p< 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to be 7.89, indicating that the model is highly effective in predicting tumor grade based on TERT expression levels.

The study established a positive correlation between histological grade and TERT gene expression levels. These findings suggest that molecular detection of abnormal telomerase transcriptional activity could serve as a useful auxiliary biomarker in the personalized management of patients with bladder carcinoma.