Telomerase and tumorigenesis

Received 29 August 2002; received in revised form 20 October 2002; accepted 21 October 2002.

Abstract

The unique biology of telomeres and telomerase plays important roles in many aspects of mammalian cell physiology. Over the past decade, several lines of evidence have confirmed that the maintenance of telomeres and telomerase participate actively in the pathogenesis of human cancer. Specifically, activation of telomerase is strongly associated with cancer, and recent observations confirm that telomeres and telomerase perform important roles in both suppressing and facilitating malignant transformation by regulating genomic stability and cell lifespan. In addition, recent evidence suggests that telomerase activation contributes to tumorigenesis independently of its role in maintaining telomere length. Here we review recent developments in our understanding of the relationships among telomeres, telomerase, and cancer.

Telomerase, Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT), Telomere, Immortalization, Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT), Senescence, Tumorigenesis, Malignant transformation, Cancer, Telomere capping, Tumor suppression, Replication, Mouse telomeres, Tumor promotion, Genomic instability, Retinoblastoma, Simian virus 40 (SV40), Human papillomavirus, Senescence

a Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Dana 710C, Boston, MA 02115, USA

b Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-617-632-2641; fax: +1-617-632-2375

PII: S0304-3835(02)00703-6

doi:10.1016/S0304-3835(02)00703-6

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