Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Histidine metabolism boosts cancer therapy

Clinical use of the anticancer drug methotrexate can be limited by its high toxicity. It emerges that a diet rich in the amino acid histidine increases the effectiveness of methotrexate treatment and lowers toxicity in mice.
  1. Christian Frezza

    1. Christian Frezza is at the MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge CB2 0XZ, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Methotrexate was one of the first approved anticancer drugs, and is a cornerstone of modern chemotherapy for the treatment of certain solid tumours and blood cancers. However, this therapy must often be stopped prematurely because of its high toxicity in patients’ healthy cells. Writing in Nature, Kanarek et al.1 report that degradation of the amino acid histidine can increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to methotrexate, and the results suggest that this approach can also help to lower the side effects of methotrexate treatment in mouse models.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 559, 484-485 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05573-4

References

  1. Kanarek, N. et al. Nature 559, 632–636 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Farber, S., Diamond, L. K., Mercer, R. D., Sylvester, R. F. Jr & Wolff, J. A. N. Engl. J. Med. 238, 787–793 (1948).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Assaraf, Y. G. & Schimke, R. T. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 84, 7154–7158 (1987).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Roberts, K. G. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 371, 1005–1015 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Locasale, J. W. Nature Rev. Cancer 13, 572-583 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids Ch. 10 (Natl Acad. Press, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Brown, P. M., Pratt, A. G. & Isaacs, R. G. Nature Rev. Rheumatol. 12, 731–742 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links