Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Jul 2009
ReviewDichotomic actions of glutamine in host versus tumour: an emerging concept.
Malignancy is characterized by a systemic deficiency of glutamine (GLN). The debate over whether GLN supplementation should be standard of cancer patients is still topical. This review focuses on recent findings on the effect of GLN administration on the incidence and severity of adverse effects in host due to radiotherapy or chemotherapy or both and on its putative adjuvant role on cytotoxicity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on tumour. ⋯ Recent studies have shown that GLN could have dichotomic actions in host versus in tumour, probably in link with glutathione metabolism, suggesting that GLN could be used in clinical practice to increase the therapeutic index of oncological treatments.