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Cancer diets for cancer patients: Lessons from mouse studies and new insights from the study of fatty acid metabolism in tumors.

Biochimie
November 1, 2020
Emeline Dierge et al. (3 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewHuman StudyAnimal Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the potential of high-fat diets, including ketogenic diets, as an adjuvant therapy for cancer by examining their effects on tumor growth and lipid metabolism.

Results Summary

The study found that high-fat diets, particularly ketogenic diets, often reduced tumor growth in mice, especially when combined with chemo- or radiotherapy. However, in human cancer patients, evidence is limited to case reports, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about their efficacy.

Population

Mice and human cancer patients (primarily based on case reports).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (6)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
Calorie-restricted diet
decrease
tumor growth
mice
-
revealed a reduction
#1
Ketogenic diet
decrease
tumor growth
mice
-
revealed a reduction
#2
diets that deviate from normal composition only by one or two amino acids
decrease
tumor growth
mice
-
revealed a reduction
#3
high fat diet
increase
cancer progression
-
-
account for cancer progression associated with
#4
n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
decrease
tumors
-
-
exert potent cytotoxic effects
#5
n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
increase
cancer patient outcomes
cancer patients
-
represent an attractive diet supplementation to improve
#6
Abstract

Specific diets for cancer patients have the potential to offer an adjuvant modality to conventional anticancer therapy. If the concept of starving cancer cells from nutrients to inhibit tumor growth is quite simple, the translation into the clinics is not straightforward. Several diets have been described including the Calorie-restricted diet based on a reduction in carbohydrate intake and the Ketogenic diet wherein the low carbohydrate content is compensated by a high fat intake. As for other diets that deviate from normal composition only by one or two amino acids, these diets most often revealed a reduction in tumor growth in mice, in particular when associated with chemo- or radiotherapy. By contrast, in cancer patients, the interest of these diets is almost exclusively supported by case reports precluding any conclusions on their real capacity to influence disease outcome. In parallel, the field of tumor lipid metabolism has emerged in the last decade offering a better understanding of how fatty acids are captured, synthesized or stored as lipid droplets in cancers. Fatty acids participate to cancer cell survival in the hypoxic and acidic tumor microenvironment and also support proliferation and invasiveness. Interestingly, while such addiction for fatty acids may account for cancer progression associated with high fat diet, it could also represent an Achilles heel for tumors. In particular n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids represent a class of lipids that can exert potent cytotoxic effects in tumors and therefore represent an attractive diet supplementation to improve cancer patient outcomes.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AnimalsDiet, Carbohydrate-RestrictedDiet, Protein-RestrictedFatty AcidsHumansLipid MetabolismNeoplasmsTumor Microenvironment
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy60/10
Quality70/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations14
Citations/Year2.8
Relative Citation Ratio0.74
NIH Percentile39.1%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.05
Weight Score1.09
Normalized Score0.58
Related Supplements
Cancer diets for cancer patients: Lessons from mouse studies... | Panacea Index