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ArticleClinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico2026

Assessing telomerase and Ki-67 protein expression in pre-invasive lesions and invasive cervical neoplasia with correlation to clinico-pathological parameters.

Manal Masoud Musallam Al Awfi, Al Shifaa Ibrahim Said Al Wahaibi, Mohammad Arafa, Hajar Al Badi, Ruqaiya Al Shamsi, Fatma Al Hinai, Samya Al Husaini, Afrah Al Rashdi, Asem Shalaby, Mohamed Mabruk

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Article in Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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10 authors.

Manal Masoud Musallam Al Awfi *Department of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, AL-Khoud, Muscat, Oman.
Al Shifaa Ibrahim Said Al Wahaibi *Department of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, AL-Khoud, Muscat, Oman.
Mohammad ArafaDepartment of Pathology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
Hajar Al BadiDepartment of Pathology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, University Medical City, Muscat, Oman.
Ruqaiya Al ShamsiDepartment of Pathology, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
Fatma Al HinaiDepartment of Pathology, Medical City of Military and Security Service, Muscat, Oman.
Samya Al HusainiDepartment of Pathology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, University Medical City, Muscat, Oman.
Afrah Al RashdiDepartment of Pathology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, University Medical City, Muscat, Oman.
Asem ShalabyDepartment of Pathology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
Mohamed MabrukDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, AL-Khoud, Muscat, Oman. mabruk@squ.edu.om.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1787-1908

Funding

Sultan Qaboos University IG/MED/BIOM/25/01Sultan Qaboos University IG/MED/PATH/21/01
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeCervical carcinoma, exhibits distinctive hallmarks, including sustained proliferation and replicative immortality. Ki-67 is a well-established marker of cell proliferation, while the presence of telomerase, particularly its catalytic subunit human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT), is associated with the uncontrolled proliferation seen in many cancers.

methodThe expression of Ki-67 and the hTERT component of telomerase was investigated in various cervical lesions. Tissue microarray blocks were prepared from a total of 586 paraffin-embedded cervical tissue specimens received at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital and Royal Hospital between January 2010 and December 2018. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess the expression of both markers.

resultsThe results showed that Ki-67 expression increased significantly with the severity of cervical lesions (p < 0.05), with SCC displaying high Ki-67 expression in more than 50% of tumor cells. However, statistical analysis revealed no significant correlation between Ki-67 expression and lesion prognosis. On the other hand, hTERT showed a significantly higher expression in low-grade LSIL (p < 0.05), whereas high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and SCC predominantly showed negative hTERT expression. hTERT staining was mainly localized to the nucleus across all cervical lesions, with some cytoplasmic and combined expressions, and it was generally of mild intensity; however, this correlation was not statistically significant. Additionally, the percentage of hTERT-positive cells was mostly below 10% in all lesion types, with no statistically significant differences observed.

conclusionOur findings suggest that the use of Ki-67 and hTERT component of telomerase combination might not be sufficient to predict the prognosis of cervical lesions. Nonetheless, the observed expression patterns of each biomarker indicate a potential role in early carcinogenesis.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, Squamous CellKi-67 AntigenTelomeraseUterine Cervical DysplasiaUterine Cervical NeoplasmsAdultAgedFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryMiddle AgedNeoplasm InvasivenessPrognosisBiomarkers, TumorKi-67 AntigenTelomeraseTERT protein, humanCervical neoplasiaClinico-pathological parametershTERTKi-67Telomerase

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.