The Science of Metabolic Oncology: Starving Cancer of the Fuels it Needs to Thrive.
Depriving cancer of its preferred fuels leads to better outcomes.
Cancer cells require glucose and glutamine to fuel their rapid growth. Depriving these cells of glucose using a ketogenic diet and glutamine using 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON), a glutamine antagonist, shows remarkable preclinical results.
SD-UR = standard diet, unrestricted
SD-UR = standard diet + DON
KD-R = Ketogenic diet, restricted
KD-R = Ketogenic diet, restricted + DON
Mukherjee, P., Augur, Z.M., Li, M. et al. Therapeutic benefit of combining calorie-restricted ketogenic diet and glutamine targeting in late-stage experimental glioblastoma. Commun Biol 2, 200 (2019)
Can a ketogenic diet that starves cancer of its preferred fuel help people beat brain cancer?
Preclinical research has demonstrated that the ketogenic diet may be a potent way to improve cancer outcomes. We are helping to fund the largest trial to date on the ketogenic diet’s effectiveness alongside standard of care therapy in people with glioblastoma multiforme. This trial will take place at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and will be a phase II extension of a completed phase I trial. Updates on the trial will be provided here when available.