| 1. |
- Hultdin, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Association between telomere length and V-H gene mutation status in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia : clinical and biological implications
- 2003
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - London : Nature Publishing Group. - 0007-0920 .- 1532-1827. ; 88:4, s. 593-598
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The immunoglobulin V-H gene mutation status can divide B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) into two entities with a different clinical course. Cases with unmutated V-H genes, considered to evolve from pregerminal centre (GC) cells, have a worse outcome compared to cases showing mutated VH genes, that is, post-GC derived. Also, telomere length has been reported to be of prognostic significance in CLL. Interestingly, telomerase becomes activated during the GC reaction and an elongation of the telomeres occurs in GC B cells. We performed telomere length and VH gene analysis in a series of 61 CLL cases, in order to investigate if the unique telomere lengthening shown in GC B cells could reflect the telomere status in the two subsets of mutated and unmutated CLL. A novel association was found between VH gene mutation status and telomere length, since significantly shorter telomeres were demonstrated in the unmutated group compared to the mutated group (mean length 4.3 vs 63 kbp). Shorter telomeres also constituted a subgroup with a worse prognosis than cases with longer telomeres (median survival 59 vs 159 months), Furthermore, the I-g gene sequence data revealed that samples with high mutations frequency (> 6%) had long telomeres (similar to 8 kbp). Thus, both the telomere and VH gene mutation status in CLL appear linked, which may reflect the proliferative history of the clonal cells with regard to the GC reaction. (C) 2003 Cancer Research UK.
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| 2. |
- Remes, K, et al.
(författare)
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Telomere length and telomerase activity in malignant lymphomas at diagnosis and relapse
- 2000
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0007-0920 .- 1532-1827. ; 82:3, s. 601-607
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Telomere length maintenance, in the vast majority of cases executed by telomerase, is a prerequisite for long-term proliferation. Most malignant tumours, including lymphomas, are telomerase-positive and this activity is a potential target for future therapeutic interventions since inhibition of telomerase has been shown to result in telomere shortening and cell death in vitro. One prerequisite for the suitability of anti-telomerase drugs in treating cancer is that tumours exhibit shortened telomeres compared to telomerase-positive stem cells. A scenario is envisioned where the tumour burden is reduced using conventional therapy whereafter remaining tumour cells are treated with telomerase inhibitors. In evaluating the realism of such an approach it is essential to know the effects on telomere status by traditional therapeutic regimens. We have studied the telomere lengths in 47 diagnostic lymphomas and a significant telomere shortening was observed compared to benign lymphoid tissues. In addition, telomere length and telomerase activity were studied in consecutive samples from patients with relapsing non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Shortened, unchanged and elongated telomere lengths were observed in the relapse samples. The telomere length alterations found in the relapsing lymphomas appeared to be independent of telomerase and rather represented clonal selection random at the telomere length level. These data indicate that anti-telomerase therapy would be suitable in only a fraction of malignant lymphomas.
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