Abstract
One method of treating certain cancers is by amino acid depletion. The best example of this is asparaginase, which has been used to lower blood levels of asparagine, a nonessential amino acid in humans. Asparaginase has been used for years to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of leukemia in children and young adults. Since most human body cells do not require asparagine for their growth and survival, whereas the leukemic cells are auxotrophic for this amino acid, this represents a targeted approach to treatment.