An assistant professor published a study finding that dietary supplements containing branched-chain amino acids, which can preserve muscle mass in cancer patients experiencing cachexia, did not exacerbate metastatic disease as previously hypothesized. The study found increased levels of the amino acid leucine from supplements did not enhance tumor growth or decrease survival time. Supplementing a ketogenic diet, known to slow tumor progression, with branched-chain amino acids caused tumor growth to slow and mean survival time to increase by 46 percent, showing these supplements would not worsen metastatic disease and warrant more investigation for mitigating cancer cachexia.

1. By Dominic D'Agostino
New Study Points to Possible
Method of Mitigating Cancer
Cachexia

2. Introduction
 An assistant professor at the University of South
Florida, Dominic D’Agostino recently published a
study that points toward an effective method for
mitigating the effects of cancer cachexia, the loss of
muscle mass caused by cancer. Dominic D’Agostino
and his research team found that dietary supplements
consisting of branched-chain amino acids, which
could preserve muscle mass in cachexic patients, did
not exacerbate metastatic disease, as previously
hyphothesized.
Branched-chain amino acids, most notably leucine,
trigger protein biosynthesis in mammals and increase
cell motility, which could in turn encourage greater
tumor invasiveness.

3. Mitigating Cancer
 However, according to the study, increased levels
of leucine from supplements did not significantly
enhance tumor growth or decrease survival time.
Moreover, researchers found that supplementing
a ketogenic diet, already proven to slow tumor
progression, with branched-chain amino acids
caused tumor growth to slow and mean survival
time to increase by 46 percent. This study
showed that the use of such supplements would
not exacerbate metastatic disease and that more
investigation into the use of branched-chain
amino acids to mitigate cancer cachexia is
warranted.