Popular dietary supplement may offer new treatment option for aggressive cancers

June 16, 2023

A new study by researchers at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and McGill University has revealed that the popular dietary supplement alanine may offer an effective treatment option for people diagnosed with several types of aggressive cancer.

The findings show alanine’s potential as a treatment for cancers characterized by a dual loss of the SMARCA4 and SMARCA2 genes. These SMARCA4/2-deficient cancers include small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT) — a rare and lethal tumour that occurs predominantly in women in their mid-twenties — as well as other malignancies, including a subset of lung cancers.

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