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Arginine Feeding: a Novel Strategy to Improve Protein Metabolism in Cancer and the Response to Surgery

NCT00497380 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 19

Last updated 2025-09-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Muscle catabolism is a major problem in cancer patients undergoing surgery as it negatively affects post-operative recovery. Recent evidence exists that protein metabolic changes are already apparent in cancer before muscle wasting is being present. In line, patients with breast cancer, generally characterized by a normal nutritional status, were recently found to be arginine deficient. Arginine deficiency in cancer can be explained by: 1) Reduced arginine availability, due to exhaustion of endogenous (muscle) sources of arginine 2) Enhanced arginine catabolism, due to conversion of arginine by arginase, which is abundant in tumors. Protein is the most important endogenous source of arginine. Arginine deficiency will lead to a negative feedback loop in cachexia by promoting protein breakdown in an attempt to restore plasma arginine levels. We hypothesize that pre-operative arginine supplementation in breast cancer patients diminishes the occurrence of muscle wasting after surgery by 1) normalizing arginine availability pre-operatively, resulting in conservation of protein, 2) diminishing the catabolic effects of surgery by supplying exogenous arginine for the post-operative response, 3) enhancing the anabolic capacity to feeding through supplying substrate for protein synthesis.

Conditions

  • Protein Metabolism

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Arginine

Oral nutritional supplement

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Nicolaas Deutz, M.D., Ph.D. · University of Arkansas

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
30 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2009-08-18
Primary Completion
2012-02-04
Completion
2012-02-04

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00497380 on ClinicalTrials.gov