Telomerase Has Potential as Universal Cancer Vaccine

A study has shown that different types of cancer cells, including those without any known tumor-associated antigen, can be killed by telomerase-based immunotherapy. The findings were published in the March 2003 issue of Cancer Gene Therapy.

The study showed that dendritic cells genetically modified with the telomerase gene can be used to generate an immune response against cancer cells, extending on previous work using telomerase RNA. Dendritic cells were obtained from the peripheral blood of normal healthy volunteers and then modified in vitro with purified human telomerase DNA or with an adenoviral vector containing human telomerase DNA. The resulting telomerase-modified dendritic cells then present antigenic fragments of the telomerase protein to T-lymphocytes, thereby enabling them to recognize and kill telomerase-positive cancer cells.

These results, say scientists at Geron Corp. (Menlo Park, CA, USA), support the potential use of telomerase as a universal cancer vaccine administered directly to cancer patients in order to induce a strong and specific anti-telomerase immune response in which the patient's own lymphocytes recognize and kill telomerase-expressing cancer cells.

"This study provides additional support for the use of telomerase in cancer vaccine trials, and suggests that telomerase-based immunotherapy may be useful for all cancer patients regardless of the tumor antigen status of their cancer cells,” said David B. Karpf, executive medical director of oncology at Geron, which conducted the study.




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