An appraisal of telomerase activity in benign prostatic hyperplasia

BACKGROUND Prostate cancer is one of the commonest neoplasms in elderly males in developed countries. It is not clear which individuals are at high risk of developing aggressive adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Biomarkers are therefore urgently needed to identify such individuals. It had been suggested both by ourselves and others that prostatic telomerase activity may represent a valuable marker in this respect, particularly if applied to BPH, as tissue is readily available from both transurethral resection of prostates and transrectal ultrasound biopsy. METHODS Tissue was collected prospectively from 46 patients with BPH who underwent TURP for clinically benign prostatic disease, and who w…