In this article we will go to understand together what links or benefits there are between supplementation and oncological therapies, we will answer the question: amino acids and cancer, what is the link?
Let's clarify one thing immediately: Essential amino acids are not an alternative to chemotherapy, but their use can help in cancer patients.
Since the dawn of chemotherapy in the XNUMXs, it was quickly clear that nutrition played a key role in slowing the development of cancer cells. Even if, according to many experts of cellular metabolism, they believe that anaerobic glycolysis plays the central role in the energy production of the tumor itself (the so-called Warburg effect), the mechanisms that regulate protein and lipid synthesis are largely ignored needed for cancer cells to duplicate.
All this often translates into a diet low in essential amino acids for cancer patients, this because (as mentioned) the amino acid shortage would slow down the tumor's progress.
But, it turns out that the problem is another: 60% of cancer patients cannot reach a pharmacologically relevant dose of chemotherapy without it becoming toxic for the patient's tissues and organs.
Furthermore, in these patients it has been observed that the toxicity of chemotherapy is proportional to the integrity of the muscle mass and a decrease in the same is proportional to the probability of not reaching adequate doses of therapy.
What is the solution?
The solution can be summarized in two words: physical activity, if performed regularly, reduces the risk of the appearance of neoplasia (tumor mass) and promotes longevity, but not only in cancer patients, constant physical activity is associated with improved tolerance to chemotherapy drugs.
This is because exercise is the primary promoter of muscle mass, but at the same time (as we said initially) healthy eating is just as important.
But in this scenario between amino acids and cancer, what is the link?
Essential amino acids play a leading role in the general drive towards protein synthesis and must be present in adequate quantities to complete their synthesis.
Cancer cells have a particular efficiency and therefore an advantage over "normal" cells, this is because (follow this passage carefully because it is the fundamental point of the article) the tumor tends to reduce the production of energy by the mitochondria, harbingers of oxidizing substances, and in fact it favors cytoplasmic glycolysis, in doing so, however, greatly reduces the availability of intermediates of the Krebs cycle to be used in the production of non-essential amino acids (NEAA).
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So cancer cells depend on and consume non-essential amino acids to reproduce and multiply. This generates a great advantage because the tumor finds fertile ground in organisms in which the presence of non-essential amino acids is predominant.
But what happens if the ratio between essential amino acids (EAA) and non-essential (NEAA) is reversed in favor of the former?
The research carried out has led to the discovery that in a favorable environment for the so-called "normal" cells (therefore with a greater presence of essential amino acids), they have maximum efficiency and adaptability, however cancer cells (especially those with a high duplication speed) they encounter great difficulty in their multiplication given the lack of NEAA, this fact brings out the poor adaptability of cancer cells which leads them to self-destruct due to lack of nutrients useful for their growth (non-essential amino acids as mentioned earlier).
In conclusion
From the research and studies we have done we have been able to understand between amino acids and tumors, what is the link? The answer we can give is simple, but not trivial, cancer cells find fertile ground when our diet is unbalanced towards high amounts of non-essential amino acids.
The advice we can give you is to, regardless of your clinical condition, introduce more essential amino acids into your body which, in addition to making you live in health, have demonstrated excellent preventive properties in the development of tumors.
Source:
Studies and research by Prof. FS Dioguardi Gastroenterologist, Associate Professor in Internal Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan
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