Nutrient From Beef and Milk Found to Potentially Kill Cancer Cells: Study

Milk prices are displayed in a supermarket in the District of Columbia on May 26, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

A nutrient found in dairy and meat products shows the potential to kill cancer cells and could boost clinical treatments for the illness, according to a recent study.

The study, published in the Nature Journal on Nov. 22, analyzed 235 bioactive molecules found in food. It looked for compounds capable of activating a group of immune cells called CD8+ T known to kill cancerous or virally infected cells. Researchers found that Trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) improved the ability of CD8+ T cells to infiltrate tumors and potentially kill cancer cells. TVA is a long-chain fatty acid found in meat and dairy products from grazing animals like cows and sheep.

In addition, cancer patients with higher TVA levels circulating in the blood were also found to respond better to immunotherapy.

This suggested that TVA could potentially be used as “a nutritional supplement to complement clinical treatments for cancer,” according to a Nov. 22 press release from the University of Chicago where the study was conducted.

In the human body, only 20 percent of the TVA is broken down into other byproducts, while the remaining 80 percent circulates in blood.

The researchers experimented with TVA on mice. They fed mice with a diet rich in TVA and found that it “significantly reduced the tumor growth potential of melanoma and colon cancer cells compared to mice fed a control diet.” Moreover, the TVA diet also boosted the ability of CD8+ T cells in mice to infiltrate tumors.

In their analysis, the researchers found that TVA works by inactivating a receptor on the surface of CD8+ T, eventually activating a cellular signaling process involved in functions like cellular growth, survival, and differentiation. Mice that had the receptors of CD8+ T cells removed were found to lack improved tumor-fighting ability.

The team also analyzed leukemia cells and found that TVA “enhanced the ability of an immunotherapy drug to kill leukemia cells.”

“To see that a single nutrient like TVA has a very targeted mechanism on a targeted immune cell type, with a very profound physiological response at the whole organism level—I find that really amazing and intriguing,” said Jing Chen, one of the senior authors of the study.

The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In its “ethics declarations,” the study states that Mr. Chen has patents pending on TVA and TVA derivatives.

Another researcher, Chuan He, is “a scientific founder and a scientific advisory board member of Inferna Green Inc. and AccuaDX Inc., and holds ownership shares of Accent Therapeutics Inc.” A third researcher, Hongbo Chi, acts as a consultant for Kumquat Biosciences.

A fourth author, Anand A. Patel, received research funding from Celgene/BMS, Pfizer, and Agios/Servier.

TVA in Cancer Treatment

While the study did raise the possibility of using TVA as a dietary supplement in cancer treatments, Mr. Chen warned against focusing too much on the food source.

Since there is evidence that consuming too much red meat or dairy can be detrimental, the study should not be taken as an excuse to consume more pizza or cheeseburgers, he stated.

Instead, the focus should be on using TVA nutrient supplements and determining the optimized amount to be used in treating cancer. Mr. Chen also raised the possibility of other nutrients potentially performing the same function as TVA.

“There is early data showing that other fatty acids from plants signal through a similar receptor, so we believe there is a high possibility that nutrients from plants can do the same thing,” he said.

The researchers intend to build a more comprehensive library of nutrients circulating in the human body to understand how they impact immunity and other biological processes.

A 2019 study published in PubMed also found a potential positive impact of TVA on cancer. It looked at the impact of TVA on human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx located behind the nose and above the throat.

The study found that TVA “significantly inhibited cell proliferation” of the NPC cancer cells and suggested that using it could offer an advantage in treating the illness.

Another study from 2014 found that TVA exerted a “direct anti-carcinogenic effect” on human breast cancer cells.

Cancer Research

The Nov. 22 TVA study comes as there have been significant scientific breakthroughs in recent times when it comes to cancer research. In October, researchers from UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California, revealed the discovery of a biological “switch” that could make cancer cells destroy themselves.

“CD95 receptors, also known as Fas, are called death receptors,” said a UC Davis news release. “These protein receptors reside on cell membranes. When activated, they release a signal that causes the cells to self-destruct.”

Scientists from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) recently published their findings regarding a flavonoid in licorice root that could inhibit the progression of pancreatic cancer. They also suggested that the chemical may boost the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs used to treat the illness.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), “cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S., exceeded only by heart disease.”

ACS estimates that more than 1.9 million cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2023. The organization expects approximately 609,820 deaths this year, which comes to around 1,670 deaths per day.

“Although incidence increases greatly with age; 88 percent of people diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. are 50 years of age or older and 57 percent are 65 or older,” the organization said.

“Risk is also increased by certain behaviors and other modifiable factors, such as smoking, having excess body weight, drinking alcohol, and eating an unhealthy diet,” it said. “An estimated 41 out of 100 men and 39 out of 100 women will develop cancer during their lifetime.”