A new research paper was published in Ageing (Ageing-US) Volume 17, Issue 6, on June 5, 2025, titled “Senescence caused by telomerase inactivation in myeloid, mesenchymal, and endothelial cells has distinct effects on cancer progression.”

In this study, first author Joseph Rupert, along with corresponding author Mikhail G. Kolonin and colleagues from The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, McGovern Medical School, at The University of Texas Health Sciences Centre at Houston, investigated how ageing-related changes in different cell types affect cancer progression.

By turning off telomerase in specific cell populations in mice, the researchers discovered that cell ageing, or senescence, can slow primary tumour growth but also trigger unexpected effects.

This work sheds light on the complex relationship between ageing cells and cancer and may help guide future anti-cancer strategies.

The team used genetically modified mice to deactivate telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosome ends, specifically in immune, connective tissue, and blood vessel cells.

This caused these cells to enter a state of senescence, where they stop dividing and release inflammatory signals.

The researchers then implanted breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer cells into the mice and tracked how tumours developed.

They found that when telomerase was inactivated in immune cells or connective tissue cells, tumours grew more slowly.

However, these tumours showed signs of increased tissue damage and potential aggressiveness.

Interestingly, when telomerase was turned off in endothelial cells, which cover blood vessels, tumours shrank and became poorly supplied with blood, leading to oxygen deprivation.

In the case of pancreatic cancer cells, this low-oxygen environment made them more likely to spread to the liver, highlighting a potential risk of targeting these cells.

“[…] this study shows that senescence and metabolic dysfunction resulting from telomerase inactivation in distinct cells in the tumour microenvironment have different effects on tumour growth and metastasising of carcinomas.”

This research provides important insights into how ageing cells within the tumour microenvironment (TME) influence cancer behaviour.

While senescence in certain cell types can help suppress tumour growth, it may also create conditions that favour cancer metastasis.

These findings highlight the need to consider cell type-specific effects when developing therapies that target senescent cells.

By mapping how different cell populations contribute to cancer progression in ageing tissues, this study opens the door for more precise approaches to prevent both tumour growth and spread.

Source: Impact Journals LLC