AntiCancer Inc. Scientists Discover the Fundamental Basis of the Malignancy of Cancer

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a new article appearing in the current issue of the Cell Press scientific journal iScience, AntiCancer Inc. of San Diego has demonstrated that the addiction of cancer to the common amino acid methionine is the basis of the malignancy of cancer. The new article demonstrates that the excess methionine needed by cancer cells for their addiction is used to pathologically modify proteins that control gene expression (called histones), by a process called hyper-methylation. The new article shows that rare cancer cells that were selected in the laboratory to revert to non-addiction to methionine (methionine independence) also lost malignancy as well as histone hyper-methylation, behaving mostly as normal cells, thereby demonstrating the linkage of methionine addiction to histone hyper-methylation and malignancy.

AntiCancer Inc.’s study began 50 years ago with the discovery of methionine addiction of cancer by AntiCancer’s Founder Robert M. Hoffman. Methionine addiction of cancer is termed the Hoffman Effect, named after Dr. Hoffman.

“The new study shows that methionine addiction is the fundamental basis of cancer,” said Jun Yamamoto, lead author of the iScience article.

“Every cancer tested is methionine addicted and can be targeted by methionine restriction,” said Qinghong Han, lead scientist for methionine restriction at AntiCancer Inc.

“Methionine addiction is therefore a very promising target for cancer therapy,” said Mark Simon, Director of the Nutritional Oncology Research Institute.

AntiCancer Inc. is the oldest biotech firm in San Diego, founded in 1984, and performs pioneering cancer research that can be clinically applied for cancer patients, and has published 1200 scientific articles. Follow AntiCancer on anticancer.com.