Al's Comment:

This is a scary report.  They found that different tumors behave differently to alterations in levels of alpha-ketoglutarate.   Brainstem gliomas (in mice) benefitted from a treatment that lowers the level of alpha-ketoglutarate. However, low grade gliomas (in mice) did better when they increased the level of alpha-ketoglutarate.   It is great that they found an easy way to influence the speed of growth of tumors, but a lot more research needs to be done to fully understand how it impacts various tumors in people.   IF true, we need to be careful testing the ketogenic diet which increases the levels of alpha-ketoglutarate. It might help some tumors but also might hurt other types.  The methylation of the histones that alpha-ketoglutarate causes may be random, so the effect might not be consistent even in the same tumor types, or over time in the same patient. This definitely deserves more study.


Posted on: 08/23/2020

Ketone-Supressing Drug Combats Rare Brain Cancer in Mice

 


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