Researchers at the University of Basel have found that in some patients, supplementation with N-acetylcysteine can increase the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to treatment. Research published in the journal Cell Report Medicine.
A common reason for breast cancer treatment to fail is cell resistance to drugs. Scientists have found that loss of the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene leads to a reduced response to the drug alpelisib, which is used to treat breast cancer. This discovery was confirmed by experiments on human cells and tissues.
Loss of NF1 affects the energy reserves of cells, while the activity of mitochondria, the organelles responsible for cellular energy production, decreases. Scientists have suggested that N-acetylcysteine, a dietary supplement that has a similar effect on energy metabolism, may exacerbate this effect. Instead, the scientists found the opposite: supplementation restored alpelisib’s effectiveness in resistant cancer cells.
Scientists have also found cellular changes that lead to this. The authors believe that the combination of N-acetylcysteine and alpelisib could improve breast cancer treatment. The next step will be to conduct clinical trials with patients to confirm the positive effects observed in the laboratory.