Preclinical study shows ketogenic diet could enhance pancreatic cancer therapy (Keto triples survival time)

Medical Xpress / Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research / Med ^ | Feb. 11, 2022 | Lifeng Yang et al

[ConservativeMind]

A preclinical study has demonstrated that a diet could enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. The ketogenic diet—or high fat, modest protein and very low carbohydrate intake—synergizes with chemotherapy to triple survival time in rigorous mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Substantial preclinical evidence suggests that fasting, or diets that resemble fasting in their metabolic effects, could enhance therapy for a variety of cancers. The ketogenic diet mimics fasting by reducing circulating glucose and depressing levels of insulin, a hormone that drives tissues and tumors to consume the sugar. Insulin is an important promoter of cancer growth—especially in pancreatic tumors—while glucose is a critically important fuel for cancer cell proliferation. Studies previously revealed that PDAC tumors, despite their aggressive growth, are starved of glucose, which suggested they could be especially vulnerable to additional glucose deprivation.

They found that the ketogenic diet alone did not affect tumor growth. But it did triple median survival time when combined with chemotherapy.

"We know that glucose is a major cancer fuel, and insulin is a cancer promoting hormone, and that the ketogenic diet decreases both," said Rabinowitz. "We found in this study that the diet decreases levels of glucose more profoundly in the tumor than in healthy tissues and that it dramatically suppresses levels of insulin."

By depriving the body of sugar, the ketogenic diet forces the body to break down fats to generate molecules known as ketone bodies that can be burned by cells to generate energy. Chief among these is 3-hydroxybutyrate.

"One thing we noticed is that 3-hydroxybutyrate acts like a supercharged fuel that dumps electrons into cells, and tumor cells are wired for other reasons to be extra-good at taking up this fuel," said Rabinowitz. "Fortuitously, too much of this super-charged fuel may be toxic to cancer."

[ConservativeMind]

This could benefit a cancer near to you, too.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Robert357]

wow. That is interesting and hopeful.

[ConservativeMind]

Bump for you.

[gleeaikin]

Kind of makes me glad I stayed on Phase 1 of the Atkins diet consuming no more than 20 grams of carbs daily for 6 months rather than the shorter period recommended. Wonder how many cancer cells I destroyed as I dropped from 155 lbs down to 135 lbs.