Scientists say a discovery about how cancer cells “live forever” could lead to new treatments.
Healthy cells have timers so they only live as long as they are needed.
Cancer cells do not have these timers and so can keep on replicating, say researchers from Cancer Research UK, writing in the journal Cell.
And they warn that if this ‘timer’ could be applied to healthy cells, slowing their ageing process, they could then become cancerous themselves.
Cell ageing is controlled by strips of DNA at the end of chromosomes.
These DNA strips, called telomeres, get shorter every time a cell divides until there is nothing left – and the cell knows it is time to die.
But cancer cells have ways of blocking the ageing process.
It was known that many use an enzyme called telomerase to rebuild their telomeres.
However, scientists knew this could not be the only mechanism, as cancer cells can achieve immortality without it.
