Telomerase reactivation is associated with hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers

Abstract

Background: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and its components play a significant role in cancer progression, but recent data demonstrated that telomeres and telomerase alterations could be found in other diseases; increasing evidence suggests a key role of this enzyme in the fields of hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases.

Data sources: We performed a PubMed search with the following keywords: telomerase, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma by December 2019. We reviewed the relevant publications that analyzed the correlation between telomerase activity and hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases.

Results: Telomerase reactivation plays a significant role in the development and progression of hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumors and could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers, as a predictor for prognosis and a promising therapeutic target.

Conclusions: Our review summarized the evidence about the critical role of hTERT in cancerous and precancerous lesions of the alteration and its activity in hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases.

Keywords: Cancer; Hepatobiliary and pancreatic disease; Telomerase; Telomere.