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Studies of Folate Deficiency in Patients with Neoplastic Diseases¹

Department of Medicine A, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, New York State Department of Health, and State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14203

Seven patients with advanced neoplastic diseases were fed a semisynthetic folate-deficient diet for periods ranging from 25 to 140 days. A rapid drop in serum folate was observed in all 7 patients within the first 10 days of feeding with the formula diet. A slower drop in whole-blood folate became apparent after 30 days. There was a substantial drop in liver folate in 4 out of 5 patients, in tumor folate in 4 out of 4 patients, and in isolated leukocyte folate in the 1 patient tested. Macrocytosis developed in 1 patient after 132 days of feeding with the deficient diet. Slight megaloblastoid changes in the bone marrow were observed from Day 91. Both the macrocytosis and megaloblastoid changes reverted to normal upon resumption of a regular diet and folate supplementation. No antitumor effect was noted in the spectrum of tumors tested. The rate of folate depletion in the tumor tissue was slow and roughly paralleled the rate of depletion in liver and blood. It was concluded that folate depletion by dietary means is an impractical approach to the treatment of human cancer.

¹ This investigation was supported by USPHS Research Grant C-5834 from the National Cancer Institute, NIH.

Received 2/ 4/69. Accepted 6/13/69.

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