1. Introduction
cancer, tumor, non-tumor, mucositis
TUMOR, CANCER, ADVANCED CANCER, HEAD AND NECK CANCER, MUCOSITIS
We previously reported that L-glutamine reduces the severity of mucositis caused by chemoradiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer. However, the impact of glutamine on the anti-tumor effect of chemoradiotherapy remains controversial. This study, which included 40 patients, investigated whether L-glutamine influences survival. Radiation therapy (total: 66 or 70 Gy), cisplatin, and docetaxel were co-administered for a period of 6 weeks. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either glutamine (glutamine group, The free amino acid L-glutamine exhibits the greatest abundance among amino acids in humans. Specifically, it accounts for approximately 60% of the total amount of amino acids. This amino acid is the main source of energy and essential precursor for nucleotide biosynthesis in numerous types of rapidly proliferating cells, namely intestinal epithelium, fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and macrophages [The use of cytotoxic therapy in patients with advanced cancer may lead to the development of glutamine deficiency [Klimberg et al. demonstrated that supplementation with glutamine did not increase tumor DNA content. This finding indicated that supplementation with glutamine may be useful in non-tumor tissues (e.g., muscle), the intestinal epithelium, and cells (e.g., fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and macrophages) [Therefore, the goal of the present study was to explore whether glutamine influences cancer therapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.