Diagnostic implications of telomerase activity in pleural effusions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of telomerase activity for discrimination of malignant and benign pleural effusions. Pleural effusions were collected from 109 consecutive patients in whom the diagnosis was confirmed with cytological and/or histological examinations. Cytological samples were classified as malignant (n=63) and benign (n=46). Telomerase activity was determined with the polymerase chain reaction-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. Telomerase activity was detected in 52 (82.5%) and nine (19.6%) samples from the malignant and benign groups, respectively, which was a significant difference. The sensitivity rate of cytological examination when combined with telomerase activity (92.1%) was significantly greater than that of cytological examination alone (53.9%). The sensitivity and specificity of telomerase activity were 82.5 and 80.4%, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of telomerase activity was 81.6%. Telomerase activity is a highly sensitive diagnostic biomarker for malignancy and may be used as an adjunct to cytological findings in determining malignant pleural effusions.