Effect of dietetic supplementation with L-arginine in cancer patients. A review of the literature.

It has been suggested that the administration of certain nutrients may impr ove the immune response of patients with cancer. Experimental studies have shown that deficiencies in specific amino acids have a worse effect on humo ral immunity than they do on cell-mediated immunity because they impair ant ibody synthesis. Here. arginine plays a particularly important role, and re search with several experimental and human tumor models to determine the th erapeutic utility of this amino acid is under way. In this paper, we review current literature on the use of arginine as pharmacologic nutritional sup port for cancer patients. Dietary supplementation with arginine has been sh own to benefit these patients by reducing the growth of transplantable tumo rs, the incidence of metastases, and the tumor-producing potential of carci nogens. However, results observed in humans have given rise to controversy regarding the optimal dosage of arginine supplementation and the types of c ancer best treated with amino acids. Further prospective and randomized stu dies will be necessary in order to determine the proper utilization and the therapeutic benefits of such dietary supplementation.