Clinical applications of telomerase in cancer treatment

Telomerase activity has been found in most cancer cells, but not in the maj ority of normal differentiated tissues. Therefore, telomerase has been cons idered a relatively selective and widely expressed tumor marker to be used as a diagnostic tool, and in some cases, as a potential prognostic indicato r. Telomerase activity can also be used to evaluate chemosensitivity of neo plastic cells obtained from cancer patients, by measuring residual telomera se activity after drug treatment. Finally, telomerase has been considered t o represent a suitable target for designing new anticancer strategies. This review focuses on present and future clinical applications of telomerase s tudies in cancer management. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.