L-glutamine :is it safe to take during chemo treatment

Posted by gingercc @gingercc, Sep 17, 2023

Hi, my mom is recently diagnosed with ER/PR + , HER2 - cancer that has spread to lymph nodes. Stage still unknown due to unknow how many lymph nodes are involved.
She started her first chemo. Her doctor says it is safe to take L-glutamine during chemo treatment to help with mouth sore, gut lining and improve immune system. However, I checked many websites that states L-glutamine will give cancer cell energy and cancer cell will grow faster on L-glutamine. So cancer patients need to be careful when taking L-glutamine.
We don't know what to do? Please share with your experience with me whether your doctor recommend L-glutamine or not. If it is recommended, how much do you take daily?
Thank you.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Breast Cancer Support Group.

Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Sep 17, 2023

@gingercc Welcome to Mayo Connect where patients and caregivers meet to support one another. I am glad to see you are helping your Mom to deal with this very tough situation, where all the treatments, medications, side effects and appointments can be overwhelming.
I do not have breast cancer, but a dear friend is currently facing it, so I watch this group with some interest.
I was unfamiliar with using l-glutamine during cancer treatment, so I took a look at what Sloan Kettering Cancer Center had to say:
https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/glutamine
And Mount Sinai:
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/glutamine
The literature about glutamine and cancer cells is highly technical. It seems that they are testing glutamine in and adjacent to the cancer cells, is mostly still in "in vitro" (test environment) and finding the complexities in the body (in vivo) make it difficult to draw conclusions.

Maybe a discussion with the oncologist is in order?
Sue