A simple dietary supplement in ketogenic diet can boost &lsquo;CAR T&rsquo; cell function &mdash; a personalized treatment that reprogrammes patients&rsquo; own immune cells to kill cancer, according to a new study. 
While the approach needs to be assessed in clinical trials, the early research, hints at a potentially cost-effective strategy to improve CAR T cell function and cancer-fighting abilities, according to a study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine&rsquo;s Abramson Cancer Center in the US.
&ldquo;Thousands of patients with blood cancers have been successfully treated with CAR T cell therapy, but it still doesn&rsquo;t work for everyone,&rdquo; said co-lead author Shan Liu, a postdoctoral fellow.
Liu co-led the study with Puneeth Guruprasad, a medical student in the Perelman School of Medicine.
The research team tested the effect of several different diets, including ketogenic, high-fibre, high-fat, high-protein, high cholesterol, and a control diet, on CAR T cell&rsquo;s tumour-fighting capabilities using a mouse model of diffuse-large B-cell lymphoma.
They found improved tumour control and survival in the mice receiving a ketogenic diet compared to all other diets.
In subsequent studies, they found higher levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), a metabolite produced by the liver in response to a ketogenic diet, was a key mediator of this effect.
&ldquo;Our theory is that CAR T cells prefer BHB as a fuel source rather than standard sugars in our body, such as glucose,&rdquo; Guruprasad said. &ldquo;So, increasing the levels of BHB in the body gives the CAR T cells more power to take out the cancer cells.&rdquo;
The theory that BHB supplementation could improve response to CAR T cell therapy is being tested in a Phase I clinical trial at Penn Medicine&rsquo;s Abramson Cancer Center.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re talking about an intervention that is relatively cheap and has low toxicity potential,&rdquo; said Maayan Levy, PhD, an assistant professor of Microbiology.
&ldquo;If the clinical trial data pans out, I&rsquo;m excited to think about how a fairly simple approach like this could be combined with dietary interventions or other, more traditional approaches, to enhance the anti-cancer effect,&rdquo; Levy added.
&mdash;IANS
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Early research indicates a potentially cost-effective strategy to improve cancer-fighting abilities

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December 8, 2024 | 15:51 IST