telomeres & telomerase in tumor cells

Pathology

• active telomerase activity is probably necessary to sustain unregulated tumor growth
• telomeres in human tumors are often shorter in comparison with tissue from which they are derived
• thus > 90% of tumor cells recruit telomerase activity at a shorter set length
• it has been proposed that when telomeres become too short, a transient period of genomic havoc is induced
• if checkpoint controls are intact, the cell undergoes apoptosis
• if not, the genomic instability might (it has been proposed) drive reaquisition of telomerase activity

Additional terms

• apoptosis
• telomerase
• telomere