# Vitamin B12 supplementation as novel therapeutic strategy to improve cancer-associated outcomes

> **NIH NIH R00** · H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST · 2022 · $168,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
While cancer is a disease of the old, the profound alterations that accompany the aging process
are rarely considered in the study of the tumorigenic process or in the development of therapeutic
strategies to treat cancer. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of how the organismal
reprogramming that occur with age is needed to spur the development of more effective
therapeutic strategies and interventions that can ameliorate quality of life and outcome of cancer
patients of average age. We have previously identified circulatory methylmalonic acid as an
oncometabolite whose accumulation occurs with age and mediates, at least in part, the
accelerated pace of tumor progression that occurs in old people. Through the research funded by
the parent award, we have discovered that methylmalonic acid exerts its pro-aggressive effects
by directly reprogramming cancer cells as well as indirectly by suppressing T cells and
consequently promoting immune evasion. Methylmalonic acid accumulation in otherwise healthy
individuals has been mostly attributed to vitamin B12 deficiency, a common occurrence in older
people. In this supplement, we hypothesize that correcting vitamin B12 in old hosts will restore
methylmalonic acid to physiological levels and consequently affect the tumorigenic process.
Therefore, in this application we will supplement vitamin B12 in old hosts and evaluate if 1) vitamin
B12 supplementation in old hosts suppresses cancer progression; and 2) if vitamin B12
supplementation improves T cell infiltration and function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10509128
- **Project number:** 3R00CA218686-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST
- **Principal Investigator:** Ana da silva Gomes
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $168,500
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-10 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10509128

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10509128, Vitamin B12 supplementation as novel therapeutic strategy to improve cancer-associated outcomes (3R00CA218686-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10509128. Licensed CC0.

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