Source: Geron Corporation
Date: January 10, 2011
Summary:
MENLO PARK, Calif., - Geron Corporation today announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating that the company's telomerase inhibitor drug, imetelstat (GRN163L), currently in Phase 2 clinical trials, selectively targets cancer stem cells in pediatric tumors of neural origin.
Telomerase activity has previously been linked to progression and poor patient survival in childhood cancers of the central and peripheral nervous system, such as gliomas and neuroblastomas. Cancer stem cells are believed to be responsible for the growth, recurrence and metastasis of tumors. Cancer stem cells are rare populations of malignant cells with the capacity for endless self-renewal found in many types of cancer including neural tumors. Their resistance to chemotherapy and conventional anti-cancer agents make them important targets for novel therapies.
The data in the current study showed that telomerase activity was confined to the cancer stem cell population in the pediatric neural tumors studied. Gliomas removed from fourteen patients showed high telomerase activity in the cancer stem cell fraction, but not in the bulk tumor cells. Glioma and neuroblastoma cancer stem cells grown in culture were also found to have high telomerase activity. These cancer stem cells were found to have extremely short telomeres, which along with high telomerase levels, might render them particularly sensitive to telomerase inhibition by imetelstat.
