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“Precision medicine for cancer patients”

Telomeres are situated at the end of all chromosomes and prevent inappropriate triggering of the DNA repair mechanism. 

Recent work in human epidemiology and evolutionary ecology suggests adult telomere length may reflect past physiological stress and predict subsequent morbidity and mortality, independent of chronological age. As cells divide, the telomeres shorten which may trigger cell senescence and apoptosis, but short telomeres are also prone to dysfunction and fusion which can lead to a state of cellular crisis characterized by large-scale genome instability and chromosome shattering – a process termed chromothripsis. These changes play a pivotal role in the aetiology and progression of human cancers. 

Indeed, telomere dysfunction is thought to be one of the major drivers of carcinogenesis. 

Applying the TeloNostiX STELA technologies

The three senior clinical academics and founder members of TeloNostiX have strived to translate their work on understanding the role of telomere biology in cancer into clinical applications for patient benefit. They developed the highest resolution approach to determine telomere length in human cells – Single Telomere Length Analysis (STELA) and also defined the length at which telomeres lose their ability to protect the ends of chromosomes. This has allowed unprecedented insights into cancer development and progression. This technology has shown that telomere length is associated with multiple genomic abnormalities and is prognostic in many differing haematological and non-haematological cancers – indeed it is often the most important prognostic marker in multivariate analysis. 

Applying the TeloNostiX STELA technologies to normal human cells has provided many insights into the proliferative capacity, function and exhaustion profiles of normal cells. It is clear that across a broad range of chronic conditions for example, osteoarthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic cancers, the immune cell compartment exhibits more rapid biological ageing, which manifests as shorter telomere length profiles in the affected cells. Telomere length therefore provides an important insight into biological ageing that has implications for the patient selection and product manufacturing of cellular therapies.

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