Sci Adv: This cheap oral drug has doubled the effect of radiotherapy for cancer brain metastases!

Advanced tumors often have brain metastases (BM).

The blood-brain barrier refers to the barrier between blood plasma and brain cells formed by brain capillary walls and glial cells, and the barrier between plasma and cerebrospinal fluid formed by the choroid plexus, allowing only specific types of molecules to enter from the bloodstream Brain neurons and other surrounding cells

Arginine, also known as L-arginine, is inexpensive and safe, and it passes through the blood-brain barrier relatively easily

Recently, a research team from Cornell University in the United States and University College London has published a research paper titled: The metabolic adaptation evoked by arginine enhances the effect of radiation in brain metastases in Science Advances .

The study is a proof-of-concept randomized clinical trial that reports the results of oral arginine given before standard radiotherapy for 31 patients with brain metastases

The research team first evaluated the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) subtypes associated with tumors

Then, the research team observed that the patient's tumor blood volume decreased significantly after taking L-arginine for 1 hour

With these findings in mind, the research team conducted a proof-of-concept randomized clinical trial to determine whether L-arginine would increase the efficacy of radiotherapy for cancer patients with unresectable brain metastases

In a mouse model of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the research team observed that L-arginine inhibited tumor metabolism, and this inhibition occurred in a NOS2-dependent manner

In summary, the study found that the administration of L-arginine directly affects the metabolism of cancer cells and affects the ability of cancer cells to survive sublethal DNA damage

Original source:

ROSSELLA MARULLO, et al.