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Review
. 2019 Feb 21;51(2):1-13.
doi: 10.1038/s12276-019-0216-4.

Disturbed homocysteine metabolism is associated with cancer

Tauheed Hasan  1 , Reetika Arora  1 , Aniket Kumar Bansal  1 , Reshmee Bhattacharya  1 , Gurumayum Suraj Sharma  1 , Laishram Rajendrakumar Singh  2
Affiliations
Review

Disturbed homocysteine metabolism is associated with cancer

Tauheed Hasan et al. Exp Mol Med. .

Abstract

Hyperhomocysteinemia/Homocysteinuria is characterized by an increased level of toxic homocysteine in the plasma. The plasma concentration of homocysteine is 5-15 μmol/L in healthy individuals, while in hyperhomocysteinemic patients, it can be as high as 500 μmol/L. While increased homocysteine levels can cause symptoms such as osteoporosis and eye lens dislocation, high homocysteine levels are most closely associated with cardiovascular complications. Recent advances have shown that increased plasma Hcy is also a fundamental cause of neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia), diabetes, Down syndrome, and megaloblastic anemia, among others. In recent years, increased plasma homocysteine has also been shown to be closely related to cancer. In this review, we discuss the relation between elevated plasma Hcy levels and cancer, and we conclude that disturbed homocysteine metabolism is associated with cancer. Future clinical perspectives are also discussed.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Association between hyperhomocysteinemia and various cancer types
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Folate metabolism is linked to the homocysteine metabolic pathway
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Low folate levels result in Hypomethylation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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