TP53 and neoplasm: The expected outcome of telomerase inhibition should not only be to slow tumor growth, but also to diminish the possibility of induced apoptosis, for the following reasons: The tumor suppressor p53 is presumed to sense dysfunctional telomeres as damaged DNA, whereupon it elicits the senescence response at least in part by increasing expression of the cell cycle inhibitory protein, p21Cip1.