Cancer treatment

  • Laura Bonfili et al. Essential amino acid mixtures drive cancer cells to apoptosis through proteasome inhibition and autophagy activation.  FEBS J. 2017 Jun;284(11):1726-1737.
  • Maurizio Ragni et al.    Amino Acids in Cancer and Cachexia: An Integrated View.  Cancers (Basel). 2022 Nov 19;14(22):5691.
  •  Mylène Tajan et al. Dietary Approaches to Cancer Therapy.  Cancer Cell. 2020 Jun 8;37(6):767-785.

Oral supplementation with branched amino acid appears to reduce the length of hospital stay, decrease morbidity and improve the quality of life, without any changes in mortality. Perioperative supplementation with arginine has shown a reduced incidence of complications and a significant increase in long-term survival.

  • Engelen MP. High anabolic potential of essential amino acid mixtures in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol. 2015 Sep;26(9):1960-6.

There is no anabolic resistance or attenuated anabolic potential to intake of 14 g of EAA/leucine or balanced amino acid mixture in advanced (mainly stage III) NSCLC. The high anabolic potential of dietary EAA in cancer patients is independent of their nutritional status, systemic inflammatory response or disease trajectory, suggesting a key role of EAA in new nutritional approaches to prevent muscle loss, thereby improving outcome of patients with advanced cancer.

  • Deutz NE. Muscle protein synthesis in cancer patients can be stimulated with a specially formulated medical food. Clin Nutr. 2011 Dec;30(6):759-68.

In cancer patients, conventional nutritional supplementation is ineffective in stimulating muscle protein synthesis. This anabolic resistance can be overcome with a specially formulated nutritional supplement.

  • .  Dietary Amino Acids and Immunonutrition Supplementation in Cancer-Induced Skeletal Muscle Mass Depletion: A Mini-Review.  Curr Pharm Des. 2020;26(9):970-978.

In addition to being substrates, some amino acids, for example leucine, act as intracellular signals to promote protein synthesis. Recent acute studies demonstrated that provision of amino acids, sufficient to considerably elevate circulating leucine concentrations concurrent with other amino acid and nutrient availability, resulted in significant protein anabolism in cancer patients. This occurred even during weight loss and inflammation

  • Methionine and vitamin B6 intake and risk of pancreatic cancer: a prospective study of Swedish women and men. Gastroenterology. 2007;132(1):113-118.

These findings suggest that higher methionine intake may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.

  • Impact of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapeutic toxicity: a systematic review of the evidence from randomized controlled trials. Int.J Cancer. 9-15-2008;123(6):1227-1239.
  • Bozzetti F. Glutamine supplementation in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a double-blind randomized study. Nutrition. 1997;13:748-51.
  • Ling Chen et al. Efficacy and safety of oral branched-chain amino acid supplementation in patients undergoing interventions for hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis. Nutr J. 2015 Jul 9;14:67.

Scientific Papers

Prediction/ Diagnosis /Treatment of Health Problems with Amino Acids: