"Nature" low valine diet may help control childhood blood cancer

The study was led by researchers from the New York University Langone Health Center Department of Pathology and Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center.
The study showed that the genes involved in depleting valine in cells are in cancerous T cells.

Blocking these valine-linked genes not only leads to a decrease in valine in leukemia blood T cells, but also hinders the growth of these tumor cells in the laboratory
.
Only 2% of cancer T cells survive

In addition, experiments have shown that changes (mutations) in the DNA code of the NOTCH1 gene (the most common in leukemia patients) promote the growth of cancer to a certain extent by increasing the level of valine
.

The research, published in the online edition of the journal Nature on December 22, 2021, involves experiments on human leukemia cells grown in the laboratory and transplanted into mice, and then developed into this type of bone marrow origin.
Cancer in the white blood cells
.

Further experiments showed that feeding leukemia mice with low valine feed for three weeks interrupted tumor growth
.
This diet also reduced circulating blood cancer cells by at least half, and in some cases reached undetectable levels

"Our research confirms that T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is absolutely dependent on the supply of valine, and valine deficiency can prevent the development of this cancer," said Dr.
Palaniiraja Thandapani, co-lead researcher of the study, New York University Grossman Postdoctoral researcher at the School of Medicine and its Perlmutter Cancer Center
.

The research team plans to test whether low-valine-rich foods, such as meat, fish and beans, are effective for cancer patients next year
.
Thandapani said that low-valine diets are easy to obtain because they have been used to treat acid imbalances in the body that are related to genetic diseases that affect intestinal metabolism

Senior researcher Dr.
Iannis Aifantis said that the trial design may combine diet therapy with venetoclax, a drug that has been approved in the United States for the treatment of most other types of leukemia
.

He said the drug combination is important because such dietary restrictions are unlikely to last in the long term
.
This is because long-term lack of valine is known to cause muscle atrophy and brain damage

Aifantis said that many basic cellular building blocks, including proteins, nucleotides and fatty acids, are necessary for cancer to grow and spread
.
At least six other amino acids, especially high levels of lysine, are related to cancer, but their exact role is still unclear

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1,500 Americans die from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia each year, most of which are children
.
Another 5000 people will be newly diagnosed

Reference: "Valine tRNA levels and availability regulate complex I assembly in leukaemia" by Palaniraja Thandapani, Andreas Kloetgen, Matthew T.