Prolonged S-adenosylmethionine exposure is associated with poorer treatment response and adverse outcomes in breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study
Prolonged use of a common hepatoprotective supplement during breast cancer chemotherapy was linked to worse survival, raising questions about its routine use in cancer care.
In 1013 breast cancer patients, prolonged SAMe hepatoprotection during chemotherapy was independently associated with worse survival outcomes after propensity matching, with tissue-level evidence linking intratumoral SAMe to m6A RNA methylation and chemoresistance. If validated prospectively, this finding has immediate practice implications for the widespread use of SAMe as a hepatoprotective adjunct during cancer therapy in Asia.
What the study was
- Study design
- Retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching (1:2) + exploratory neoadjuvant cohort
- Population
- 1013 consecutive women with primary breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (2018–2020); exploratory neoadjuvant cohort n=62
- Sample size
- 1013
- Category
- Treatment Innovation
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- World J Surg Oncol
Why it surfaced
Unexpected finding with direct practice implication: SAMe is widely used as a hepatoprotective during chemotherapy in Asia — if the SAMe-m6A-chemoresistance link is confirmed, it would prompt immediate prescribing review. Retrospective design, single institution; requires prospective validation.
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