A 14-patient phase I trial of L-methylfolate in recurrent glioma found higher DNA methylation in tumors at autopsy, but showed no survival benefit over standard therapy.
The trial enrolled 14 patients with recurrent IDH wild-type high-grade glioma and combined L-methylfolate with temozolomide and bevacizumab. Median overall survival was 9.5 months versus 8.6 months in a retrospective comparison group, a difference the authors called not statistically significant.
Six autopsy tumors had more methylated sites than the same patients' initial tumors. The study was designed to test safety, not benefit.
More than 40% of Americans have a mutation of one of the MTHFR genes that's necessary to metabolize B9 or folic acid. It's also important to methylate DNA when cells replicate. Folic acid is a precursor to so many things the body needs. L-methylfolate bypasses this common mutation. So this study caught my attention.
Researchers took 14 patients with recurrent high-grade brain cancer, and they added high-dose methylfolate, because aggressive gliomas can lose DNA methylation as they progress. DNA replication gets out of control. The researchers wanted to know whether supplying L-methylfolate could actually reprogram the tumors to methylate properly, and it did.
Compared with their original tumors, researchers found increased DNA methylation, including 1,239 sites in the brain with significantly increased methylation.
Think about what they demonstrated. A vitamin-derived compound bypassing a common genetic folic acid metabolism mutation actually altered the epigenetic programming of human brain tumors, a factor which is critical to cancer prevention and treatment.
After years of watching what methylated folate can do clinically, that gets my attention. If you or someone you love has cancer, I'm sure it gets your attention too.
Here's the research. You decide.
Educational research summary, not medical advice. Talk with your oncologist and pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any treatment or supplement.