ArticleCancer medicine2024
Is serum-derived exosomal hTERT transcript a marker of oncogenic activity in primary brain tumors? An exploratory study.
Article in Cancer medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tumor exosomes impact functional hallmarks of cancer.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Extracellular vesicles in spine tumors: biological roles, immune modulation, and therapeutic implications.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Review
- Liquid Biopsy-Derived Tumor Biomarkers for Clinical Applications in Glioblastoma.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Exosomal Biomarkers: A Comprehensive Overview of Diagnostic and Prognostic Applications in Malignant and Non-Malignant Disorders.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Telomeres, telomerase, and cancer: mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutics.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- Is serum-derived exosomal hTERT transcript a marker of oncogenic activity in primary brain tumors? An exploratory study.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn order to proliferate indefinitely, all tumors require a telomere maintenance mechanism. The expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) enables telomere maintenance and provides cancer cells with limitless replicative potential. As such, it may serve as an attractive biomarker for oncogenic activity. This study explored whether a liquid biopsy that analyses blood derived exosomal hTERT transcript (e-hTERT-trans) may serve as such a biomarker in gliomas and meningiomas when compared to healthy controls.
methodsExosomes were isolated from the pre-operative sera of patients' samples stored in the biobank of both Rabin and Sheba Medical Centers. The levels of e-hTERT-trans were measured in 81 healthy controls, 117 meningiomas, 17 low-grade gliomas, and 61 glioblastomas. Clinical parameters of the patients were collected retrospectively and compared to the levels of the e-hTERT-trans.
resultsThe upper normal limit of controls e-hTERT-trans was 1.85 relative quantitation (RQ). The rate of detection increased with rising tumor grade and correlated with tumor recurrence in meningiomas: mean RQ without recurrence (2.17 ± 11.7) versus with recurrence (3.59 ± 4.42; p = 0.002). In glioblastomas, preoperative measurements correlated with tumor volume and with the disease course on serial sampling.
conclusionsWe demonstrated for the first time that the expression of e-hTERT-trans transcript can be measured in the serum of primary brain tumors. This exosomal marker carries the potential to serve as a biomarker once used in conjunction with other clinical and radiological parameters. Future studies are required to investigate whether the sensitivity could be augmented and whether it can be implemented into routine patients care.
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