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Telomerase inhibition in malignant gliomas: a systematic review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2023

Quintino Giorgio D'Alessandris Open the ORCID record for Quintino Giorgio D'Alessandris [Opens in a new window] ,
Marco Battistelli ,
Giovanni Pennisi ,
Martina Offi ,
Maurizio Martini ,
Tonia Cenci ,
Maria Laura Falchetti ,
Liverana Lauretti ,
Alessandro Olivi  and
Roberto Pallini
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Quintino Giorgio D'Alessandris*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
Marco Battistelli
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Giovanni Pennisi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Martina Offi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Maurizio Martini
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
Tonia Cenci
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
Maria Laura Falchetti
Affiliation:
CNR-Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBBC), Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
Liverana Lauretti
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Alessandro Olivi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Roberto Pallini
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
Nicola Montano
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery Section, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
*
Author for correspondence: Quintino Giorgio D'Alessandris, E-mails: giorgiodal@hotmail.it; quintinogiorgio.dalessandris@policlinicogemelli.it
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Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent adult malignant brain tumour and despite different therapeutic efforts, the median overall survival still ranges from 14 to 18 months. Thus, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. However, the identification of cancer-specific targets is particularly challenging in GBM, due to the high heterogeneity of this tumour in terms of histopathological, molecular, genetic and epigenetic features. Telomerase reactivation is a hallmark of malignant glioma. An activating mutation of the hTERT gene, encoding for the active subunit of telomerase, is one of the molecular criteria to establish a diagnosis of GBM, IDH-wildtype, in the 2021 WHO classification of central nervous system tumours. Telomerase inhibition therefore represents, at least theoretically, a promising strategy for GBM therapy: pharmacological compounds, as well as direct gene expression modulation therapies, have been successfully employed in in vitro and in vivo settings. Unfortunately, the clinical applications of telomerase inhibition in GBM are currently scarce. The aim of the present systematic review is to provide an up-to-date report on the studies investigating telomerase inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for malignant glioma in order to foster the future translational and clinical research on this topic.

Keywords

Alternative lengthening of telomeresglioblastomahTERTin vitroin vivotelomerase
Type
Review
Information
Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine , Volume 25 , 2023 , e10
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

These two authors shared the senior authorship.

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