Cancer cells feed on vitamin B6 to replicate

Chicken, lentils, bananas, salmon, avocado, spinach… Vitamin B6 present in these foods plays an essential role in many biological functions. However, when pancreatic cancer grows, its cells need vitamin B6 to replicate. Scientists from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (United States) have shown this in a work recently published in the journal. Cancer Discovery.

“Pancreatic cancer cells use up all the vitamin B6”

As part of this study, researchers recalled the role of vitamin B6 in healthy people and pancreatic cancer cases. The latter supports the cells of the immune system, including natural killer (NK) cells, which are the first responders to anything from cancer to the common cold. However, in the presence of pancreatic cancer, NK cells are absent. In a laboratory experiment, the team found that giving high doses of vitamin B6 did not help the NK cells. “Pancreatic cancer cells use up all the vitamin B6, which NK cells need to do their job and grow more.”

Pancreatic cancer: a three-step strategy to reduce the number of cancer cells

By analyzing the actions taken by cancer cells to degrade vitamin B6, the authors sought to find a way to reverse this mechanism. The strategy they implement is made up of three parts. The first step is to reduce the expression of a specific gene to block the pathway by which the cancer absorbs vitamin B6. Next, more vitamin B6 needs to be provided and the final step uses therapy to improve NK cell function. After testing this method on mice, scientists saw a reduction in the number of pancreatic cancer cells.

Chemotherapy: “Immune system must be strong for treatment to be effective”

“Pancreatic cancer is a systemic disease. It doesn’t just sit there. It tries to get nutrients from many areas to survive. That’s why it’s important to look broadly at how we can boost the immune system against tumors. (. . . .) The immune system must be strong for other treatments, such as chemotherapy, to be effective. If the immune system is not able to play its role, the treatment will not work.” Kamiya Mehla, co-author of the work explained.

In their next research, the team will examine how vitamin B6 deficiency affects other organs, particularly the liver, when cancer cells are present. He will also study whether a lack of vitamin B6 contributes to the appearance of cachexia, a condition of muscle wasting that affects most people with pancreatic cancer. “When patients have significant muscle damage, they are less likely to respond to treatment.”