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The
use of a whey protein concentrate in the treatment of patients with metastatic
carcinoma:
a phase I-II clinical study
Kennedy
RS, Konok GP, Bounous G, Baruchel S, Lee TD
Department
of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Glutathione
(GSH) concentration is high in most tumour cells and this may be an important
factor in resistance to chemotherapy.
Previous in-vitro and animal experiments
have shown a differential response of tumour versus normal cells to various
cysteine delivery systems.
More specifically, an in-vitro assay showed that at
concentrations that induce GSH synthesis in normal human cells, a specially
prepared whey protein concentrate, Immunocal, caused GSH depletion and
inhibition of proliferation in human breast cancer cells.
On the basis of this
information five patients with metastatic carcinoma of the breast, one of the
pancreas and one of the liver were fed 30 grams of this whey protein concentrate
daily for six months.
In six patients the blood lymphocyte GSH levels were
substantially above normal at the outset, reflecting high tumour GSH levels.
Two
patients (#1, #3) exhibited signs of tumour regression, normalization of
haemoglobin and peripheral lymphocyte counts and a sustained drop of lymphocyte
GSH levels towards normal.
Two patients (#2, #7) showed stabilisation of the
tumour, increased haemoglobin levels.
In three patients (#4, #5, #6,) the
disease progressed with a trend toward higher lymphocyte GSH levels.
These
results indicate that whey protein concentrate might deplete tumour cells of GSH
and render them more vulnerable to chemotherapy.
PMID:
8669840 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8669840&dopt=Abstract
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