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Anticancer Therapy Targeting Telomeres and Telomerase

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Abstract

Normal human somatic cells undergo telomeric attrition causing replicative senescence. Most immortal cancer cells cope with this by upregulating the active form of telomerase. Long-term inhibition of telomerase results in telomeric attrition and highly specific killing of cancer cells, in which the maintenance of telomere length is reliant on telomerase activity. Unfortunately, telomere erosion requires many cell divisions, possibly opening the way for acquired drug resistance. Recent attempts to solve this problem include the development of drugs that are more potent catalytic inhibitors, deny telomerase access to the telomere in situ, or affect telomere structure; some of these drugs have entered clinical trials. Combinations of these approaches may ultimately produce the best clinical results. This article reviews the latest results in both basic and applied telomere research that indicate the most promising avenues for future anticancer drug development in this area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr Caroline Fitchett for her critical review of the manuscript. The work in Professor Parkinson’s laboratory is supported by the European Union (Framework 6 MOL CANCER MED LSHCCT-2004-502943) and Queen Mary University of London, School of Dentistry. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review.

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  1. Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Institute of Cell and Molecular Sciences, 4 Newark St, London, El 2AT, England

    E. Kenneth Parkinson & Fay Minty

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  1. E. Kenneth Parkinson
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  2. Fay Minty
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Correspondence to E. Kenneth Parkinson.

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Parkinson, E.K., Minty, F. Anticancer Therapy Targeting Telomeres and Telomerase. BioDrugs 21, 375–385 (2007). https://doi.org/10.2165/00063030-200721060-00005

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