Telomerase News and Research

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New anti-ageing therapy may be effective against aplastic anaemia

Aplastic anaemia is a rare, and potentially fatal, disease of the blood, by which the bone marrow is unable to generate blood cells at the appropriate pace. Many forms of aplastic anaemia share an important link with the ageing process: the shortening of telomeres, structures that protect the ends of chromosomes.

25 Feb 2016

Study provides detailed new information about diffuse glioma

An international collaborative study has revealed detailed new information about diffuse glioma, the most common type of tumor found in some 80 percent of adult brain cancer patients, raising hopes that better understanding of these disease groups may aid improved clinical outcomes.

29 Jan 2016

Researchers create high resolution images of telomerase that plays major role in cancer, aging

An enzyme called telomerase plays a significant role in aging and most cancers, but until recently many aspects of the enzyme's structure could not be clearly seen.

16 Oct 2015

SMC5/6 protein complex plays vital role in cancer suppression and premature ageing

A study conducted by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre´s Genomic Instability Group, led by Óscar Fernández-Capetillo, describes for the first time in mammals, the role played by the SMC5/6 protein complex in cancer suppression and premature ageing. Mutations in these complexes, which were sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents, had been previously described in yeast cells, but their exact relationship with cancer or other diseases in mammals was unknown.

8 Oct 2015

Researchers find mutated gene responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in two brothers

A few years ago, Javier Benítez, director of the Human Genetics Group at the CNIO, received a call from Pablo García Pavía, from the Cardiology Unit of the Puerta de Hierro University Hospital. This cardiologist was treating two brothers with a rare form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS).

26 Sep 2015

Molecular biology research holds promise in understanding cancer growth, aging

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University have found molecular evidence of how a biochemical process controls the lengths of protective chromosome tips, a potentially significant step in ultimately understanding cancer growth and aging.

15 Sep 2015

Imetelstat drug shows promise in treating patients with myelofibrosis

Imetelstat, a novel drug that targets telomerase, has demonstrated potential value in treating patients with myelofibrosis, according to the results of a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Sep 2015

Scientists generate pluripotent stem cells with more stable genomes

Damaged tissue, such as pancreas, heart, and neuronal tissue, which is regenerated to treat cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or neurodegenerative diseases. This is one of the ambitious scenarios to which regenerative medicine aspires and that is being announced as one of the great promises of twenty-first century biomedicine for the treatment of a long list of diseases affecting people today.

28 Aug 2015

Alpha lipoic acid can stimulate telomerase with positive effects in mouse model of atherosclerosis

In human cells, shortened telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, are both a sign of aging and contribute to it. Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found that the dietary supplement alpha lipoic acid (ALA) can stimulate telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, with positive effects in a mouse model of atherosclerosis.

24 Aug 2015

Study stresses importance of investigating telomeres to improve diagnoses, develop treatments for many diseases

Studying telomeres, the structures that protect the ends of chromosomes, has become a key issue in biology. In recent years, not only has their relation to ageing been confirmed; defective telomeres seem to be linked to more and more illnesses, including many types of cancer.

16 Jul 2015

Latent CMV infection induces telomere shortening

The telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at each end of our chromosomes. Studies show that in every cell division, the telomere is shortened. As a result, the telomere limits the cell to a fixed number of divisions and a limited life span. An essential part of human cells they affect how our cells age - as people with longer telomeres live longer lives. Surprisingly, people who are infected with a latent virus, that is, an asymptomatic virus, have shorter telomeres.

2 Jul 2015

Molecular classifications of low-grade gliomas proposed

Two research teams have independently proposed molecular classification systems for grade II and III glioma based on three tumour markers, with each category displaying distinct clinical features and outcomes.

12 Jun 2015

Asterias reports positive data from AST-VAC1 Phase 2 trial for intermediate, high risk AML

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the emerging field of regenerative medicine, today announced positive, new, long-term follow-up data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of AST-VAC1 in patients with intermediate and high risk acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

1 Jun 2015

Researchers uncover mechanism behind common mutation that helps cancer cells replicate limitlessly

More than 500,000 people in the United States die each year of cancer-related causes. Now, emerging research has identified the mechanism behind one of the most common mutations that help cancer cells replicate limitlessly.

19 May 2015

Researchers make major step toward finding target to combat drug-resistant neuroblastoma

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have made an important step toward finding a target in the fight against drug-resistant neuroblastoma (NBL), the most common solid malignancy found, outside of the skull, in children.

14 May 2015

CNIO researchers identify new strategy to combat cancer

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have discovered a new strategy to fight cancer, which is very different from those described to date. Their work shows for the first time that telomeres -- the structures protecting the ends of the chromosomes -- may represent an effective anti-cancer target: by blocking the TRF1 gene, which is essential for the telomeres, they have shown dramatic improvements in mice with lung cancer.

14 May 2015

Invectys begins INVAC-1 phase I clinical trial in cancer patients

Invectys announces today that it has initiated a phase I clinical trial of its immunotherapeutic drug candidate INVAC-1.

13 May 2015

New discovery may change the principles for treating cancer

Danish researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev Hospital have made a discovery that may change the principles for treating certain types of cancer.

30 Apr 2015

TERT gene alterations co-occur with frequently altered bladder cancer genes

In results presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015, a collaborative study by the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute reports that the TERT gene promoter was altered in 69 percent of 54 cases of bladder cancer due to variants that occur after birth (called "somatic") and in 56 percent of bladder cancers due to inherited variants (called "germline").

21 Apr 2015

Donald S. Coffey to receive Margaret Foti Award at AACR Annual Meeting 2015

Donald S. Coffey, PhD, will be honored with the ninth annual American Association for Cancer Research Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015, to be held in Philadelphia, April 18-22.

17 Apr 2015