A recently published study by a team at the University of Chicago suggests that a carotenoid called zeaxanthin, naturally occurring in plants like kale, spinach and orange peppers, and well known for its benefits in eye health, could also play a role in supercharging the immune system during the fight against cancer.
The research, which appeared in Cell Reports Medicine, indicates that this over-the-counter supplement that is not only affordable but also easily accessible may boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.
The study’s senior author, Jing Chen, PhD, explains that the team was surprised when they found that the nutrient could play a previously unknown role of ramping up the immune system to combat tumors. He adds that their research shows that this simple nutrient could strengthen and complement cutting-edge cancer treatment approaches like immunotherapy.
For their study, the team screened a huge library of nutrients found in blood. The objective was to identify which ones could support the specialized immune cells involved in killing cancer cells within the body. This particular study was building on the work that Chen has been doing at his lab for many years analyzing how immune function is influenced by various nutrients.
In this particular study, the team focused on CD8+ T cells that contain the TCR (T-cell receptor) known to detect and get rid of any abnormal cells within the body. The researchers discovered that zeaxanthin helped to stabilize and bolster TCR on immune cells while they fought against cancer. This influence of zeaxanthin made it possible for the T cells to be activated at a higher level, cytokine production also ramped up and the cells’ ability to kill tumor cells magnified.
The researchers tested this nutrient on mice to see whether these beneficial effects could be replicated in a living organism. The mice fed on this supplement manifested slower tumor growth. Interestingly, when the supplement was used alongside checkpoint inhibitors, anti-tumor activity was much higher than when the checkpoint inhibitor was used without feeding the mice a diet that included the zeaxanthin supplement.
These findings need further clinical study to assess how well they can work in human patients. One key positive is that zeaxanthin’s safety profile is well known, so it will be easy to design clinical trials involving cancer patients. If the human studies are successful, nutritional immunology could become a powerful avenue in which diet works as a weapon in the fight against cancer.
As this approach is studied further, other exciting approaches, such as the use of oncolytic virus therapy, are also being advanced by many companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI). It is just a matter of time before these different forms of immunotherapy deliver superior clinical outcomes to a lot more patients than is currently happening.
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