Antitelomere Agents A Promising Cancer Therapy

Antitelomere Agents A promising Cancer Therapy

A group of scientists have identified a family of compounds that inhibit telomerase, leading to death of cancer-like cells in vitro. Dr. B.S. Hurbet and colleagues report that peptide nucleic acid and 2'-0-MeRNA oligomers inhibit telomerase, leading to telomere shortening, and causing immortal cells to undergo apoptosis with increasing frequency. These cells were able to regain their original telomere length after the therapy was stopped which suggests that the side effects of antitelomerase agents might be minimal. However, this also implies that continuous administration of the drug will be necessary to prevent telomere re-growth in cancerous cells.

These agents could potentially be used to treat cancer in combination with other chemotherapy agents. The combination therapy is necessary because it takes a substantial period of time before antitelomere agents start to have effect on cancerous cells. Similar compounds are already being tested for conditions other than cancer. The researchers report that it should be possible to test these agents in both animals and humans in the near future.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 1999;96:14276-14281.