ALTERATION OF TELOMERIC REPEAT LENGTH IN ADULT AND CHILDHOOD SOLID NEOPLASIAS
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- Published online on: January 1, 1995 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.6.1.13
- Pages: 13-16
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Abstract
The ends of human chromosome contain unique structures referred to as telomeres which confer genetic stability to the chromosomes, but due to the end replication problem, cell division both in vivo and in vitro reduce the average telomere length in normal somatic cells. We have measured the length of terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) at the telomeric ends in 215 adult and 156 pediatric solid neoplasias. Reduced TRFs were detected in 52 adult tumors (24.2%) and 33 pediatric tumors (21.2%), while elongated TRFs were detected in 19 adult tumors and seven pediatric tumors. Our results indicate that while TRF lengths are altered in a fraction of various kinds of tumor, many tumors consist of cells with TRF lengths which do not differ from those of adjacent normal tissue.
