DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i03.049

Pages: 1107-1112

Telomerase activity is known to be a characteristic feature of malignancy. In the present paper, telomeric length alterations have been presented as biomarker or ovarian and prostate cancer diagnosis. Pre-diagnostic telomere length determination may prove to be helpful in diagnosing ovarian cancer development. In tubo-ovarian dysplasia, telomeres were found to be significantly shorter than BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. Telomeric length and stability were found to be influenced by proteins including telomerase which is encoded by TERT gene. Short telomere patients exhibited more unplanned hospital admissions and were found to be at higher risk of serious events. Telomere shortening in stromal cells has been found to be associated with risk of prostate gland. Moreover, telomere lengthening has been reported as a risk factor for hereditary prostate cancer. Conclusively, telomere length alterations could serve as a biomarker to predict future cancer risk.