Is inositol, hexaphosphate form, bad for CLL?

[Vlaminck]

Hi, all. IP6 (a form of inositol called inositol hexaphosphate readily available as a supplement) has been shown to be very anti-cancer, including at least one blood cancer, AML I think. However, as I read about how it works, it seems to indicate that it increases or activates Bruton Tyrosine Kinase. So, if BTK inhibitors are positive for CLL, I would assume then that IP6 would be very contraindicated in CLL. Am I reading these articles correctly, anyone out there, AussieNeil?, who gets into the weeds of this disease? Thanks.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator]

There doesn't seem to have been much study of inositol hexaphosphate with respect to CLL since this post to our community, seven years ago: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo... Though as you note, there are some more recent papers that could indicate the need for caution with respect to supplementing inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) when you have CLL.

Overexpression of SH2-Containing Inositol Phosphatase Contributes to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Survival (2019) concludes

"Importantly, also in human CLL, we found overexpression of many phosphatases including SHIP2. Inhibition of SHIP1/SHIP2 reduced cellular survival and S6 phosphorylation and enhanced basal calcium levels in human CLL cells. Taken together, we provide evidence that SHIP2 contributes to CLL pathogenesis in mouse and human CLL." SHIP2 is SH2-containing inositol phosphatase.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/318...

Management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (2015)

"The BCR signaling pathway inhibitors (ibrutinib targeting Bruton's tyrosine kinase [BTK] and idelalisib targeting phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase delta [PI3K-delta], respectively) are currently approved for the treatment of relapsed/refractory CLL and all patients with 17p- (ibrutinib), and in combination with rituximab for relapsed/refractory patients (idelalisib)."

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/259...

Signalling in myeloid blood cancers is often different to that in the lymphoid blood cancers, a fact that is often overlooked by alternative practitioners. So yes, it's dangerous to assume that what may work for AML will also work for CLL.

Neil

[Vlaminck in reply to AussieNeil]

Thank you. Wow. I had just started to take it. No, I don't confuse AML with CLL in terms of effects, and jeez, I've been taking a BTK enhancer! And that post 7 yrs ago relates to a doc recommending it (did they use BTK inhibitors back then, I wonder).

[SofiaDeo in reply to Vlaminck]

Ibrutinib was approvedin the US late 2013:drugs.com/history/imbruvica...

IDK about other countries

[Vlaminck in reply to SofiaDeo]

Thanks. Then this doc who recommended it (in 7 year old post) should have known, is my thinking.

[LeoPa in reply to Vlaminck]

Lots of things were recommended by doctors to patients throughout history which proved to be harmful. Off the top of my head blood letting, radical surgeries etc. I'm sure looking back 50 years from now a lot of today's procedures and treatments will be considered huge mistakes too. I wonder which ones are those...

[Vlaminck in reply to LeoPa]

Blood letting actually had some medical usefulness, in the case of bacterial infections. Bacteria need adequate iron, and by bleeding, make patient anemic, killed off bacteria. Of course, they didn't know why it worked and probably often bled too much or bled for other conditions.

[LeoPa in reply to Vlaminck]

Really? So anemic CLL patients should be protected from bacterial infections? Those who are low on iron too? How much iron does the bacteria need? Can you drain enough of it to actually reduce bacterial count? I thought that the only appropriate use of bloodletting was to prevent stroke due to high blood pressure. Draining some certainly reduces blood pressure.

[Vlaminck in reply to LeoPa]

Haha. Wasn't recommending for CLL (unless you also have a bad bacterial infection with no antibiotics to kill it). Just mentioning that this was almost certainly the origin for "bleeding" as treatment (which apparently often worked cause it sure caught on) -- and back in olden days it seems bacteria were the chief medical foe, with common pneumonia, plague, scarlet fever, etc. and there were no miracle antibiotics. Smallpox is the only viral foe I can recall from ages ago. Bacteria need a lot of iron. And yes, decreasing your iron level can actually be healthy if you have a high level of iron.