- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
L-aspartic acid emerges as a hidden player in gastric cancer prevention: Study

New research reveals that L-aspartic acid, a common amino acid found in blood plasma, may play a critical role in predicting the risk of gastric cancer and shaping the effectiveness of preventive interventions. By combining metabolomic profiling with genetic analysis across large populations, scientists found that elevated levels of L-aspartic acid are linked to a higher risk of stomach cancer. More strikingly, the metabolite appears to influence how well individuals respond to Helicobacter pylori treatment and garlic supplementation-two major strategies for stomach cancer prevention. These findings suggest that measuring L-aspartic acid levels could help tailor cancer prevention efforts, bringing personalized risk management closer to reality.
Gastric cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, in part due to late-stage diagnosis and the complex web of genetic, environmental, and microbial risk factors. Although H. pylori infection is a known driver, its eradication alone cannot fully explain individual variability in cancer outcomes. In recent years, scientists have turned their attention to metabolic signatures-chemical fingerprints left behind by the body's cellular processes-as potential markers for disease risk. However, most metabolomics studies rely on observational data, limiting their power to prove cause and effect. Due to these challenges, there is a pressing need to identify causal biomarkers that can both signal cancer risk and inform personalized prevention strategies.
Researchers from Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute published a study in Cancer Biology & Medicine that connects plasma L-aspartic acid levels to the development and prevention of gastric cancer. By integrating multi-stage metabolomic data, Mendelian randomization, and long-term intervention trial results, the team investigated how this metabolite not only predicts cancer risk but also alters the impact of preventive treatments. Their findings draw from data in both high-risk Chinese populations and European cohorts, providing strong evidence for L-aspartic acid as a dual-purpose biomarker for stomach cancer detection and intervention guidance.
The investigation began with a metabolomic case-control study in Linqu County, China-a region with high gastric cancer rates-where 14 metabolites were identified as linked to cancer risk. Among them, L-aspartic acid stood out. Using genetic instruments, researchers found that individuals with higher genetically predicted levels of this amino acid had a significantly increased risk of developing gastric cancer in two large Chinese cohorts, as well as an elevated risk of gastric adenocarcinoma in European populations.
But the story didn’t end there. The team went a step further by exploring how L-aspartic acid levels affected the success of established prevention strategies. In a 27-year randomized trial, the benefits of H. pylori eradication were seen only among individuals with high levels of L-aspartic acid, while garlic supplementation proved effective only in those with low levels. No such interaction was found with vitamin use. These findings suggest that L-aspartic acid not only signals cancer risk but also governs how the body responds to preventive measures-offering a promising route to targeted prevention. The integration of metabolomics and genetic tools allowed researchers to move beyond correlation to suggest causation, opening a new frontier in cancer risk prediction.
“Our findings suggest that plasma L-aspartic acid is not just a passive marker but an active player in gastric cancer development and prevention,” said Dr. Wenqing Li, senior author of the study. “This amino acid could help clinicians identify those at highest risk and determine which patients are most likely to benefit from specific interventions like H. pylori treatment or garlic supplementation. The era of “one-size-fits-all” prevention is coming to an end-we're now entering a phase of precision prevention driven by biology.”
The implications of this study are far-reaching. By incorporating plasma L-aspartic acid profiling into screening programs, health systems could more accurately identify high-risk individuals and allocate preventive resources more effectively, though further validation is warranted prior to clinical implementation. For example, those with elevated levels might be prioritized for H. pylori eradication therapy, while others could benefit more from dietary approaches. Beyond public health, these insights pave the way for targeted therapeutics focused on aspartate metabolism, a known factor in tumor cell proliferation. The study sets the stage for future research into metabolite-guided cancer prevention strategies-offering a personalized, biology-informed approach to reduce the burden of gastric cancer globally.
Reference:
Mengyuan Wang, Zhouyi Yin, Hengmin Xu, Zongchao Liu, Sha Huang, Wenhui Wu, Yang Zhang, Tong Zhou, Weicheng You, Kaifeng Pan and Wenqing Li, Plasma L-aspartic acid predicts the risk of gastric cancer and modifies the primary prevention effect: a multistage metabolomic profiling and Mendelian randomization study, Cancer Biology & Medicine, DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2024.0523.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751