What Do You Think of this New Method of "Starving" Cancer Cells instead of "Killing" Them?

Question

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I just saw something on Discovery about a where Traditional Chemo, may not be necessary.

As you know, Chemotherapy, is designed to Kill Rapidly-Dividing Cells, such as Cancer Cells - The Drawback has been that it also kills Healthy Cells, thus the "horrible" side-effect.

I just saw an example of where Liver Cancer, feeds on Arginine which can be blocked by Arginase.

But instead of the short-lived self-producing Arginase which only last 20 minutes or so -- They can introduce a Lab-made version that lasts a Week !! (and they claim - no side effects)

In theory - This would block the availability of Arginine to the Liver Cancer Cells and Starve them to Death.

Is this for real - Any BioChems out there who have an opinion on this?

...or Anyone ?

Thanks - This looks exciting to me !! :)

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Answer 1

Arginine plays an important role in cell division, the healing of wounds, removing ammonia from the body, immune function, and the release of hormones. Arginine, taken in combination with proanthocyanidins[4] or yohimbine[5], has also been used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.

The benefits and functions attributed to oral ingestion of L-arginine include:

Precursor for the synthesis of Nitric Oxide (NO)

Stimulation of the release of the most important anti-aging hormone in the body, growth hormone.

Improves immune function

Reduces healing time of injuries (particularly bone)

Reduces risk of heart disease

Increases muscle mass

Reduces adipose tissue body fat

Helps improve insulin sensitivity

Helps decrease blood pressure

Alleviates male infertility, improving sperm production and motility

Increases circulation throughout the body, including the s*x organs

It looks like these are the functions of Arg, so the story makes sense to me.  These functions(in my opinion) aren't really that great when talking about cancer.

Answer 2

sounds pretty cool, but you know over time the cancer cells may become immune to the medication, but in the mean time it sounds like a cool thing.

Answer 3

I'm not a Biochemist, just a Chemist, but it sounds really promising.

Answer 4

THANKS OST like the sandy denny you know she sang background vocals on Zeppelins "Battle Of Evermore" off Zep 4,

awesome voice, god bless her she died young, hey thats good news if its true because i have liver disease Hepc and it's getting bad it's chronic iv'e been thru treatment 3x and it's still detectible>Thanks for the heads up

MSM

lz69