Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23771434›Full record

ArticleCancer discovery2013

Unbiased metabolite profiling indicates that a diminished thymidine pool is the underlying mechanism of colon cancer chemoprevention by alpha-difluoromethylornithine.

Mavee Witherspoon, Qiuying Chen, Levy Kopelovich, Steven S Gross, Steven M Lipkin

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer discovery, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Polyamine metabolism in prostate cancer.Current opinion in oncology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mavee Witherspoon1Departments of Medicine, Genetic Medicine and Cell Biology, and 2Pharmacology, Weill Cornell College of Medicine, New York, New York; and 3Division of Chemoprevention, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland.
Qiuying Chen
Levy Kopelovich
Steven S Gross
Steven M Lipkin
National Cancer Institute · USCornell University · US

Funding

Risk Genes and Environment Interactions in NTDsP01HD067244 · NICHD · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI ROSS, MARGARET ELIZABETH · 2011 to 2020
$12.6M
Diabetic Vasculopathy and Mitochondrial eNOSR37HL087062 · NHLBI · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI GROSS, STEVEN S · 2007 to 2016
$4.2M
NCI NIH HHS N01 CN043302NCI NIH HHS N01-CN 43302NHLBI NIH HHS R37 HL087062NHLBI NIH HHS R37 HL87062NICHD NIH HHS P01 HD067244
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

unlabelledThe ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) is a highly effective chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer thought to act via polyamine depletion. However, in DFMO-treated patients, mucosal polyamine levels do not directly correlate with colorectal cancer risk. Untargeted metabolite profiling was used to broadly survey DFMO actions on colon cancer cell metabolism. We found that DFMO treatment of Apc(Min) intestinal tumors and human colorectal cancer cells is associated with reduced levels of folate-dependent metabolites, including S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), thymidine pools, and related pathway intermediates. We hypothesized that unrestrained SAM consumption/regeneration constitutes a futile DFMO-triggered cascade that can steal tetrahydrofolate from thymidylate synthase and thereby diminish thymidine pools. In accord with this hypothesis, DFMO treatment altered the folate cofactor balance and thymidine supplementation prevented DFMO-elicited cytostasis without restoring polyamine levels. These findings suggest that thymidine metabolite pool insufficiency is a fundamental mechanism of DFMO cytostatic activity. SIGNIFICANCE: A previously unappreciated metabolic linkage between polyamine and thymidine biosynthesis is revealed, based on the competing requirement of these pathways for a limited pool of tetrahydrofolate cofactor. This study identifies the fi rst shared mechanism for colorectal cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy, suggesting a common metabolic target for both premalignant and malignant colon cells.

Indexed as

AnimalsCell Line, TumorChemopreventionColorectal NeoplasmsEflornithineEnzyme InhibitorsHT29 CellsHumansMiceOrnithine Decarboxylase InhibitorsS-AdenosylmethionineThymidineEflornithineEnzyme InhibitorsOrnithine Decarboxylase InhibitorsS-AdenosylmethionineThymidine

Identifiers

PMID23771434
PMCPMC3770777
OpenAlexW2163503333

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.