Telomeres and Cancer

As people reach maturity, growth and cell division in most tissues stop or slow markedly. Telomerase is not present in most of these adult cells. Cancerous cells, however, are markedly different. They very actively divide, and they have reactivated telomerase. The reactivation of telomerase, allowing the maintenance of long telomeres, may be required for cancer cell multiplication.

Researchers are studying whether inactivating telomerase could be a treatment for suppressing cancer.