Creatine supplements may help halt cancer growth, study suggests - Medical News Today

What the report says

Medical News Today reports that a new UCLA-led study published in iScience suggests creatine may help strengthen immune activity against tumors by supporting dendritic cells, which help identify threats and direct cancer-fighting T cells. Creatine is widely known as a sports supplement, but the researchers examined whether its role in cellular energy production could affect anti-cancer immune responses.

According to the report, the team first studied mouse dendritic cells from tumors and healthy tissue. Tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells showed higher levels of a creatine transporter protein, which helps move creatine into cells. When researchers engineered dendritic cells without that transporter, the cells were less active, survived at lower rates, and were weaker at preparing T cells to respond to tumors. T cells grown with those creatine-deficient dendritic cells also multiplied less and produced fewer immune signaling molecules.

The study further found that adding creatine increased dendritic cells’ ATP, a key cellular energy source. In mice, daily creatine injections were associated with slower tumor growth and more active dendritic cells entering tumors. In laboratory tests using human dendritic cells, creatine appeared to improve their activation and their ability to stimulate T cells against cancer-related targets, findings the researchers said could be relevant to dendritic cell-based cancer vaccines.

The findings are early and do not show that people with cancer should take creatine to treat the disease. Medical News Today noted that the work was conducted in mice and human cells in a lab, and the study authors advised patients to consult a doctor before starting supplements. The broader significance is that creatine may become a research avenue for improving immunotherapy, which currently benefits only some patients.