Telomerase Activity in Melanoma: Impact on Cancer Cell Proliferation Kinetics, Tumor Progression, and Clinical Therapeutic Strategies—A Scoping Review

Background: Melanoma outcomes have improved in recent years as a result of modern systemic therapies. A major molecular feature of melanoma is abnormal telomerase activation; this is most often caused by telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations, which occur in 50–82% of cases and are the most common noncoding alteration in this cancer. Telomerase maintains telomere length, allowing melanoma cells to avoid senescence and continue dividing. However, how telomerase activity influences melanoma cell doubling time remains unclear, and the pathways linking TERT expression to faster cell-cycle progression require further study. Although telomerase inhibitors show promise in preclinical models, their clinical use is limited by delayed cytotoxicity and resistance. Materials and Methods: A scoping review was conducted using Scopus, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE/PubMed, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Keywords included “telomerase,” “melanoma,” “cancer,” “cell proliferation,” and “doubling time,” using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: Telomerase-related biomarkers were found to correlate with disease stage and survival. Suggested therapeutic strategies include enzyme inhibitors, cytotoxic nucleotide incorporation, telomere destabilization, and immunotherapies such as peptide or dendritic cell vaccines, etc. Conclusions: Understanding both telomere-dependent and -independent TERT functions is essential for developing effective biomarkers and therapies that overcome resistance and slow melanoma progression.