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A novel source of tetraploid cancer cell precursors: telomere insufficiency links aging to oncogenesis

Oncogene volume 29, pages 5869–5872 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Epithelial cancers of the elderly are caused by a combination of telomere dysfunction and the mutational invalidation of major tumor suppressors including p53. A recent article published in Cell by Davoli et al. shows that the simultaneous elimination of p53 and telomerase causes a state of chronic DNA damage that results in tetraploidization through endoreplication, that is, two consecutive S phases that are not separated by mitosis. As tetraploid cells represent a metastable intermediate between normal diploidy and cancer-associated aneuploidy, this novel route to tetraploidization may constitute (one of) the functional link(s) between aging and carcinogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

GK was supported by the Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer (Equipes labellisée), Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR), European Commission (Active p53, Apo-Sys, Chemo Res, ApopTrain), Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM), Institut National du Cancer (INCa) and Cancéropôle Ile-de-France. IV was supported by the Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France

    M Castedo, I Vitale & G Kroemer

  2. Université Paris Sud, Villejuif, France

    M Castedo, I Vitale & G Kroemer

  3. INSERM, U848, Villejuif, France

    M Castedo, I Vitale & G Kroemer

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  1. M Castedo
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  2. I Vitale
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  3. G Kroemer
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Correspondence to M Castedo or G Kroemer.

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Castedo, M., Vitale, I. & Kroemer, G. A novel source of tetraploid cancer cell precursors: telomere insufficiency links aging to oncogenesis. Oncogene 29, 5869–5872 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2010.392

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