Telomerase Inhibitors as a Developing Therapeutic Drug for Cancer Cells

The objective of this literature review project is to investigate current therapeutics involved in the treatment of cancer, particularly telomerase inhibitors. One current hypothesis regarding cancer growth is that it requires activation of telomerase to replicate. One way that cancer cell growth may be controlled is by inhibiting telomerase, an enzyme involved in shortening the DNA telomeres. This project reviews several clinical trials which show a promising telomerase inhibitor that is specific to cancer cells:2’-O-methoxyethyl oligonucletide (MOE), which binds to the telomerase RNA template, hTR. Certain telomerase inhibitors are more specific towards the telomerases that extend the telomere oligonucleotides on the oncogenes that control the cell cycle, such as the Ras and p53 genes. Currently, the amount of chemotherapy that is given to a cancer patient is limited by the toxic side effects of the chemotherapy. The current research being reviewed is aimed at inhibiting telomerase which is specific to cancer cells. This in effect will kill the cancer cells while having little or no effect on the normal surrounding cells. Because telomerase inhibitors specifically kill cancerous cells and not the normal surrounding cells, they are a new promising class of chemotherapeutic agents.