Cancer, Aging and the Quest for Immortality (version 1)

New anti-aging spa in town proves you can't fool with Mother Nature

Cancer cells use every trick in the book to gain immortality. One of their cleverer maneuvers is to keep the little caps, called telomeres, at the end of their chromosomes long. As a normal cell divides, its telomeres gradually erode, eventually becoming so short and dysfunctional that the cell is marked for death. As harsh as this may sound, it's exactly what should happen; eliminating aging cells is one of nature's most successful tumor-blocking strategies. But cancer cells are somehow able to reactivate an enzyme called telomerase, enabling them to divide indefinitely. In fact, the association between tumor formation and telomerase activation is undisputed —about 90% of tumors rely on telomerase to thrive.

Yet, despite the obvious cancer risk, this past April an anti-aging spa called T.A. Sciences, opened its doors at 24 East 64^th Street, offering telomerase-activating products to the general public —or at least those members able to afford upwards of $25,000 a year for privilege of having their bodies flooded with cancer-enhancing molecules. Less than a month before, in March, TA-Science's founder, Noel Thomas Patton, acquired the exclusive global license for a telomerase-stimulating derivative of the herb Astragalus membrancaceus from a California-based biotechnology company called Geron. Patton, former head of a family appliance manufacturing business and Geron investor, calls the derivative TA-65 and touts it as a magic molecule that can immortalize cells and reverse the effects of aging. A "Telomerase-Activating Nutraceutical Makes Cells Young Again," says the advertising on www.tasciences.com

So what do the over forty crowd get for their $25,000? Extensive, but undefined, "blood work" and occasional telomere measurements, which should reveal little or nothing. Length alone doesn't mean all that much for a telomere (why is explained in the next paragraph). "Comprehensive" reports are written and every once in a while there's a consultation with the spa's "doctor." Clients also get handfuls of assorted supplements, which they could undoubtedly buy for far less at a local pharmacy. The pampering and attention could be fun, but a long stay at the Ritz is probably more healthful, less potentially harmful, and a great deal more fun.

What is TA-65 supposed to do? According to T.A. Sciences, it improves immune function, vision, skin condition and quality of life as well as increase energy and overall "well being." If TA-65 actually does all this, why didn't Geron test it themselves according to an established Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protocol? For starters, considering the potential cancer risk, FDA is unlikely to approve TA-65's safety without extensive, long-term surveillance. Geron, which is developing telomerase-inhibiting anti-cancer agents understands this very well. In 2005 their research chief, Calvin Harley, told cancer specialists that because "The vast majority of human cancers express telomerase activity while somatic cells do not…it is an attractive target for selective cancer therapy." Proof of efficacy for TA-65 is also unlikely. Immortalizing cells in a laboratory doesn't translate to extending the lives of whole human beings. As Elizabeth Blackburn, the cell biologist who first described telomerase, pointed out to science journalist Stephen Hall in 2003, "a connection between telomere shortening and aging in the context of a whole organism has never been established." Even more important, new research shows that structure, not length, is the main determinant of telomere function. Simply making dysfunctional telomeres longer is not likely to re-establish them as protective units.

It's clear then why TA-65 is being sold as a nutraceutical by T.A. Sciences and not as a drug by Geron. "Dietary supplements are held to a much lower standard," says the University of Pennsylvania's James Lewis and Brian Strom. Nutraceuticals are virtually exempt from FDA scrutiny thanks to the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Unfortunately, consumers often have the misguided idea that medications sold as supplements are safe and gentle and this is often untrue. Because DSHEA shifts the burden of proving safety from the manufacturer onto the FDA which is sorely understaffed, it can take years for a nutraceutical 's adverse effects to become apparent and regulatory action taken.

So, buyer beware. Telomere shortening is Nature's way of blocking cancer —play around with it at your own risk. The good news is that most of the time cancer and aging share the same rather than antagonistic biologies. So much so that some scientists think the secrets to extending our own lifespans are concealed somewhere in a cancer cell's peculiar immortality and are working furiously to find ways of fighting both. Unfortunately, it seems that T.A. Sciences picked the wrong path to eternal youth.