Amino Acids and Prostate Cancer

I was unlucky enough to get prostate cancer at 35, only found out because I happened to check my testosterone levels. Anyway I have 0 PSAs now for a few years but it’s never impossible for it to come back and have been into weight lifting with the protein shakes and all that but also started taking Leucine. I just now read that amino acids make cancer grow and am concerned. Anyone with knowledge about it can you chime in? I’m also taking TRT which can be risky if it coming back as well.

Even if someone is not necessary knowledgeable about PC maybe I can ask am I taking too much Leucine as I take 5 pills 1/2 a gram each before lifting, and usually take 2 pills 3x day on days I don’t lift.

Maybe I’ll just drop the Leucine because I’m eating plenty of protein anyway.

I just looked at the bottle and I remembered wrong I’m taking 2.5 grams before workout and 1 gram 3x a day on off-days totalling 3 grams. So not huge amounts I don’t think?

Bump I’m hoping a doctor could read this or someone with knowledge and give some advice.

Maybe check with your oncologist; I don’t think any of us can responsibly answer questions like this via this forum.

Edit because I asked a question that wouldn’t change my advice

You’re looking for a doctor on an online forum? Why don’t you setup an in-person appointment with a doctor?

You do realize there’s doctors on T Nation, this is not just any forum and the typical doctor you go to in office will just say don’t take it even if they have no knowledge about it.

Tag them then.

You can use the @username function to get their attention.

The answer is yes. Amino acids are utilized by cancer cells for growth, particularly glutamine. Essentially cancer cells are rogue body cells with similar metabolic capacity just magnified ( think 20x more insulin receptors to absorb more glucose). The utilization pathway for aminos is a little more complex. Reference: I’m a cancer survivor and an RN and my father has prostate CA. My research has been extensive.

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So this is interesting and not an area in which I’ve done any reading. I’ve seen some abstracts that keto diets may be recommended for cancer patients. It seems like it would be difficult to also control for low protein in a keto diet. Is there a difference maybe with free-form amino acids and whole proteins? Or, just maybe, was my two seconds of reading not actually enough to inform me on the clinical benefits of ketosis? Or does the benefit of low insulin, to your point about magnified receptors, help mitigate the potential uptake?

Right ketosis will definitely slow things down. I think the idea is an anabolic state will also enhance tumor growth.

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I don’t know who the doctors are I just have been told they’re on here.

Thanks, I have 0 PSAs which means either they’re so little they’re undectable or not there at all. But it’s not worth risking it to bring them back.

From my understanding if they come back the TRT goes bye bye and they start giving me an injection where I literally have no testosterone to try to kill the cells again. The last thing I want. I’m not worried about death it’s not really possible from my understanding once you’re under care but having no testosterone would suck.

I feel better than I ever have with TRT weight lifting and cardio and walk 12k steps a day but when I found out in the first place I felt fine and had been working out for at least a year, but with not near as much focus on free weights.

I also take things that’s supposed to counter cancer I drink about a gallon of green tea and make it with tumeric a day and I add tumeric to my protein shakes every day.

It’s interesting how they used to think testosterone fueled prostate cancer but if that’s the case why don’t 20 year olds get it it’s men with low testosterone that get it usually older people. I had low T when I got it.