Tag Archive for: chemotherapy

Folinic Acid and Autism

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The other news related to autism was talk about the potential benefits of a pharmacological form of folate called folinic acid, an active form of vitamin B9; it’s being described as a cure for autism. In fact, the new CDC administration is fast-tracking a change in label use for the drug so it can be prescribed more often. Here’s why I think that would be a mistake.

While doing background research on an updated webinar on pregnancy, I found a paper that discussed the potential impact of mutations of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene of the mother on the development of the baby. If the mother had both mutated genes, her body wouldn’t process folate very well, resulting in the over production of homocysteine as well as other issues. That could be related to the development of neurological disorders in their babies, including autism spectral disorders and ADHD.

Folinic acid is a pharmacological form of folate that has been prescribed for use with chemotherapy patients. Some forms of chemo block the MTHFR gene, and folinic acid helps ameliorate the problems related to the chemotherapy. It seemed obvious to me that it could potentially help pregnant women with the mutated MTHFR genes and thus maybe prevent the neurological disorders in the baby. That’s where it ended because there’s not enough research to suggest it will work. The research has to happen now. Simply changing the uses for the drug based on small studies and testimonials isn’t good enough without research to support it.

As far as a treatment for autism, the same holds true. We don’t know whether the impact is dependent on, or independent of, the MTHFR mutation. Perhaps in people without the gene mutation it wouldn’t be effective, or worse, detrimental in some way that is not apparent right now.

I hope reason rules the day, as exciting as the potential seem to be, but treatments should not be based on a few case studies or worse, solely on potential. We need at least some conventional proof.

Next week, I’ll turn to a couple of cooking topics to lighten things up a little.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Research Update: Cancer and Diet

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A recent paper used an interesting approach to treat pancreatic cancer using a high-fat diet. That flies in the face of the typical approach: “If it was ever alive, don’t eat it.” In other words, a vegan diet. I’ve reviewed fasting prior to cancer treatment, which demonstrated improved outcomes for those who fasted, but this diet is radically different.

The Study

This study was all about finding the weakness in a defensive mechanism and attacking it.

Researchers were studying the mechanism that cancers use to get energy. The thought is that cancers use sugars and carbs, but cancer’s need for fuel to grow isn’t that limited. Researchers were studying how cancers switch to using fat as a fuel when there are no carbs available. Just like with the keto diets, the liver, and subsequently cancer cells if present, switch to using fat as a fuel in the form of ketone bodies. The protein that stimulates this switch is called eIF4E.

Researchers were able to find a current chemotherapy drug called eFT508 that blocked the ability of eIF4E to turn on the fat metabolism pathway. However, that didn’t stop the cancers from growing—they used other fuels such as carbs. But when they first treated the cancers with the chemotherapy drug that prevented the cancer from using fat as a fuel, then put them on a high-fat diet, the tumors all shrank.

In this study, the type of cancer was pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest. This was a rodent study, but the chemotherapy drug is already approved for use in humans. Clinical trials are surely to follow in humans.

The Bottom Line

The authors speculate that cancers have more than one weakness that can be exploited with a combination of dietary and pharmaceutical interventions. Their breakthrough came almost 15 years after discovering what blocked the fat metabolism pathway. To me, this is one of the most exciting studies I’ve read in a long time. Just remember that this was one potential treatment for one type of cancer, but it represents hope.

I’ll be back in a week with a new Memo. If you’re here in the U.S., enjoy the final holiday of the summer—but don’t forget to eat your fruits and vegetables.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-fasting-ketogenic-diet-reveals-vulnerability.html
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07781-7

How Methionine Affects Cancer Treatment

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If you’ve ever been diagnosed with cancer and you start searching the Internet, one of the things that you’ll come across is using a vegetarian diet to help treat the cancer. I’ve recommended it myself combined with conventional treatment. The question is why? Yes, the phytonutrients from plants are healthier, but is there something in animal products that’s detrimental?

A research group examined the impact of the amino acid methionine on a pathway of one-carbon metabolism; this pathway is the target of a variety of cancer interventions that involve chemotherapy and radiation. They demonstrated that removal of methionine from the diet of mice and humans resulted in more effective treatment in two types of cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation were more effective in both types of cancer once the diet was changed.

There are a couple of important points. First, this was tested on only two types of cancer. There’s no reason to think it would benefit every type of cancer treatment because this one-carbon pathway is not a target for every treatment. Second, because methionine is found in all meat and seafood, it would mean giving up all meat for the duration of treatment.

For myself, I’d give up meat and seafood during treatment whether we have the research or not. It wouldn’t have to be forever and combined with giving up refined carbs to reduce the risk of C diff, it could lead to a better chance for treatments to work. And that’s the key. It’s not in place of treatment; it’s combined with treatment. The goal is to put the odds in your favor. This seems like a simple way to do that.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Nature Vol 572: 397–401 (2019).

Exercise and Chemotherapy

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The last study on exercise I’m going to look at this week examines the possibility of using exercise as training before chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy drugs are toxic to the body. The closer they can be designed for cancer cells without harming normal cells, the better, but we haven’t advanced to the point where that’s possible in every case. One chemotherapy, doxorubicin, is highly effective for some cancers, but it’s toxic to the heart. Researchers split a group of rats into three groups. One remained sedentary, one was allowed to run on a running wheel in their cage . . .

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