Starvation could kill tumours: study


By Jennifer Macey
1 April 2008
ABC News Australia


Researchers say starvation could help cancer drugs work better (AM) Most cancer research is focused on killing tumour cells, but scientists from the University of Southern California have tried a new approach.

The researchers have found that starvation could potentially boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy used on cancer patients.

They starved mice for two days before giving them higher doses of anti-cancer drugs and found an improvement in the animals' response to the treatment.

They wanted to increase the body's protection against the toxicity of chemotherapy while ensuring the cancer cells are still targeted.

But an Australian palliative care expert says patients undergoing chemotherapy need to be well-nourished to cope with the toxic drugs.

The University of California's assistant professor of gerontology and biological science, Valter Longo, says the mice were given a much higher dose of chemotherapy.

"On the mice, we used a very high dose of chemo about three-fold, at least, higher than the maximum allowed for human studies," he said.

"The mice basically seemed like they were completely unaffected by the chemo, but the cancer cells that we injected in the mice were still killed by the high-dose chemo."

Dr Longo says healthy cells that had been artificially starved were 1,000 times better protected compared to those that were not.

"In simple systems in the baker's yeast, we got to 1,000 fold separation between normal cells and cancer-like cells in the response to chemotherapy," he said.

"So if we can just get to say 10 to 20 fold separation in clinical patients, you see how it is a completely different story for the toxicity of chemotherapy in humans, but also for the ability to go after more aggressive cancers that usually kill the patient."


Contrary findings

Australian cancer experts are more cautious about the study's findings.

Doctor Paul Glare heads the Palliative Care Department at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, and has studied nutrition in cancer patients.

He says it is difficult to transfer laboratory test results into humans.

"As I say, I haven't seen the research and I believe they're talking about short-term starvation for 48 hours or whatever before the chemotherapy is given," he said.

"[I] couldn't comment on that so much, but I think people really need to be very well-nourished to tolerate chemotherapy and often malnutrition is a reason why oncologists can't give people chemotherapy because their body can't cope with the toxicity of the chemotherapy.

"So all our oncology nutritional guidelines around the world, including in Australia, are really trying to get people to eat as well as possible and maintain their weight as well as possible throughout their treatment and I think, you know, unless we really had clear evidence that in humans it made a difference to the outcomes of the treatment to starve them, I think it would be contrary to everything that's been understood so far in this field."

Dr Longo says he will soon be conducting clinical trials to starve bladder cancer patients two days before their treatment.

But he also warns that these latest findings cannot yet be applied to humans.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/.../01/2204679.htm

Do a search on Otto Warburg, 1931, Nobel Prize, cancer.

Its amazing that 75 years later we still aren't using his data.

Thanks for giving me the push to look into that guy, Leaddog. I think I've read about him before, but nothing in depth.

There was another study that lowered insulin levels with a drug so that onoy half the chemotherapy drugs were needed to be effective (and hair did not fall out). From all I have read in my low-carb adventure, I believe they need to lower the insulin levels - not to starve them. A ketogenic diet study for cancer would be interesting.

The only reason starving works is because you aren't giving the cancer cells glucose. You get the same effect with low carb, plus if you are eating high fat, you are keeping the body strong while starving the cancer cells.

Yeah, Otto had it figured out in the freaking 30's!

Sorry to hijack the thread, but Zilla your inbox is full - can you clear some space

HI Sandy. I just answered your PM.

Done Sandy

I know it isn't what they meant, but the title made me say, "Duh". Starvation will kill just about everything. People, Animals, Tumors, whatever. Every living organism needs to feed, if they don't, they die.

Its silly they used the term starvation when fasting is really more accurate.

Yeah, but starvation is so much more... dramatic.

I always wonder about this. I eat a very low carb hight fat diet - Berstein. I prick my finger every morning to read to read what? glucose level. I actually could use a little patch of cancer cells --- not a spreading mass, just a little patch to soak up some of the extra glucose my liver pumps out.

Zilla - you exceeded your messages quota again .. need to clear your inbox, you must be a very popular person

Well geez, I can only have 10. Heck, I can do that in one day!
(I am not popular, just a blabbermouth!)

And by well-nourished they mean lots of nice high-carb and sugary foods to 'strengthen' the patients so they might survive the horrific effects of their chemo drugs. Oh yes, the best of all possible worlds. Lots of glucose to feed the cancer cells and chemo drugs that kill as many healthy cells as cancerous ones.