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Cancer: Fasting and Chemo
Sep. 18th, 2012 11:19 amMy dear friend Bonnie sent me a link to a recent article from National Cancer Institute on the possible benefits of fasting in cancer treatment. The Woo-Woo-sphere abounds in advice about what to eat or not eat either to "prevent" cancer or to treat it "naturally." While it's by no means definitive, the folks who are doing the research have respectable academic chops, so it's worth taking a look. Various caveats apply: lots of this is theoretical, and we're early into human trials. And we don't know which cancers and which chemo agents are relevant, so general applicability isn't established. But...and it's a huge but, for many cancer patients undergoing chemo there's no down side. So it's worth discussing this as an adjunct to chemo with the oncologist.
The idea is that normal and cancer cells react differently to fasting. Normal cells conserve energy, shifting from growth to maintenance modes. Cancer cells don't have the same flexibility - unrestricted division is, after all, one of the hallmarks of cancer. So here they are, still dividing like mad, deprived of the glucose and other stuff they need. So they're more stressed by fasting than are normal cells. Hit them with chemo at the same time and they should be more vulnerable.
In animal studies, that's what seems to be happening. Better and longer-lasting response to chemo agents, fewer side effects, unexpected remissions. They're doing human clinical trials now in the US and Europe.
(There's also some intriguing stuff on whether oral chemo agents can be enhanced by taking them with food, particularly those drugs that maintain long term remission.)
The idea is that normal and cancer cells react differently to fasting. Normal cells conserve energy, shifting from growth to maintenance modes. Cancer cells don't have the same flexibility - unrestricted division is, after all, one of the hallmarks of cancer. So here they are, still dividing like mad, deprived of the glucose and other stuff they need. So they're more stressed by fasting than are normal cells. Hit them with chemo at the same time and they should be more vulnerable.
In animal studies, that's what seems to be happening. Better and longer-lasting response to chemo agents, fewer side effects, unexpected remissions. They're doing human clinical trials now in the US and Europe.
(There's also some intriguing stuff on whether oral chemo agents can be enhanced by taking them with food, particularly those drugs that maintain long term remission.)
