Telomerase and the search for the end of cancer.

Simone Mocellin, Karen A Pooley, Donato Nitti

Department of Surgery, Oncology, and Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of Padova, 35100 Padova, Italy. simone.mocellin@unipd.it

Trends in molecular medicine 2013 Feb

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Many of the fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying tumor biology remain elusive and, thus, developing specific anticancer therapies remains a challenge. The recently discovered relationships identified among telomeres, telomerase, aging, and cancer have opened a new avenue in tumor biology research that may revolutionize anticancer therapy. This review summarizes the critical aspects of telomerase biology that underpin the development of novel telomerase-targeting therapies for malignant diseases, and special regard is given to the aspects of telomerase that make it such an appealing target, such as the widespread expression of telomerase in cancers. Despite significant progress, issues remain to be addressed before telomerase-based therapies are truly effective and we include critical discussion of the results obtained thus far. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.