Victor Moreno, Director of Clinical Research at START Madrid FJD, shared on LinkedIn:
“Does creatine supplementation promote cancer metastasis in humans?
A recent Nature Communications article presents an interesting hypothesis: creatine supplementation may alter megakaryocyte biology, producing platelets that support metastasis in experimental mouse models.
The title is very provocative: ‘Exogenous creatine supplementation promotes tumor metastasis via megakaryocyte creatine kinase B-STAT5B signaling’
The concern is how those findings are communicated and whether the underlying evidence supports the strength of the claims. The title does not specify mice (and the study is done in mice :). The abstract extends the metastasis claim to ‘various mouse models and humans.’ Yet the human component involved 11 healthy volunteers with no placebo/control group. Transferring their platelets into mice does not demonstrate increased metastatic risk in people.
‘Exogenous’ also needs careful interpretation. Supplement-derived and endogenously synthesized creatine are chemically the same molecule. Dose, exposure and metabolic context can differ, but origin alone does not confer a distinct molecular action. Is the title a clickbait?
The paper raises a preclinical safety hypothesis worth investigating. It does not establish that creatine causes cancer or increases metastasis in humans. Equally, uncertainty is not proof of safety in every cancer context.
When research concerns a widely used supplement, precision in the title and abstract is part of scientific responsibility.
What do you think?.
Other posts featuring Victor Moreno on OncoDaily.