Fast and Curious: Can intermittent fasting improve the efficacy of chemotherapy?

Angela, Abbie & Jasmine tackle the question, can intermittent fasting improve chemotherapy for patients? It's a wild idea but the science suggests there may just be something to it! Tune in to find out more.References:[1] Bauersfeld SP, Kessler CS, Wischnewsky M, et al. The effects of short-term fasting on quality of life and tolerance to chemotherapy in patients with breast and ovarian cancer: a randomized cross-over pilot study. BMC Cancer. 2018[2] Cancer Council Australia. Chemotherapy. Cancer Council Australia. Accessed April 27, 2025. [3] Cancer Council Victoria. Chemotherapy overview. Cancer Council Victoria. Accessed April 27, 2025. [4] Clifton KK, Ma CX, Fontana L, Peterson LL. Intermittent fasting in the prevention and treatment of cancer. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021[5] de Groot S, Lugtenberg RT, Cohen D, et al. Fasting mimicking diet as an adjunct to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer in the multicentre randomized phase 2 DIRECT trial. Nat Commun. 2020[6] Gabel K, Cares K, Varady K, Gadi V, Tussing-Humphreys L. Current Evidence and Directions for Intermittent Fasting During Cancer Chemotherapy. Adv Nutr. 2022[7] Ikoliks. Fast & Furious. Pixabay. Accessed May 3, 2025. https://pixabay.com/music/search/fast%20and%20furious/[8] Kalam F, James DL, Li YR, et al. Intermittent fasting interventions to leverage metabolic and circadian mechanisms for cancer treatment and supportive care outcomes. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2023[9] Li Sucholeiki R, Propst CL, Hong DS, George GC. Intermittent fasting and its impact on toxicities, symptoms and quality of life in patients on active cancer treatment. Cancer Treat Rev. 2024[10] Lugtenberg RT, de Groot S, Kaptein AA, et al. Quality of life and illness perceptions in patients with breast cancer using a fasting mimicking diet as an adjunctto neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the phase 2 DIRECT (BOOG 2013–14) trial. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021[11] National Cancer Institute. Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer. National Cancer Institute. Accessed April 27, 2025. [12] Omar EM, Omran GA, Mustafa MF, El-Khodary NM. Intermittent fasting during adjuvant chemotherapy may promote differential stress resistance in breast cancer patients. Journal Egypt Natl Canc Inst. 2022[13] Raffaghello L, Lee C, Safdie FM, et al. Starvation-dependent differential stress resistance protects normal but not cancer cells against high-dose chemotherapy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008[14] Raffaghello L, Safdie F, Bianchi G, et al. Fasting and differential chemotherapy protection in patients. Cell Cycle. 2010[15] Riedinger CJ, Kimball KJ, Kilgore LC, Bell CW, Heidel RE, Boone JD. Water only fasting and its effect on chemotherapy administration in gynecologic malignancies. Gynecol Oncol. 2020;159(3):799–803. doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.09.008[16] Roberson M. The Real-Life Diet of Longevity Doctor Valter Longo, Who Wants You to Finish Eating Well Before Bedtime. GQ. October 30, 2024. [17] Sadeghian M, Rahmani S, Khalesi S, Hejazi E. A review of fasting effects on the response of cancer to chemotherapy. Clin Nutr. 2021[18] Safdie FM, Dorff T, Quinn D, et al. Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report. Aging (Albany NY). 2009;1(12):988-1007. doi:10.18632/aging.100114[19] Tiwari S, Sapkota N, Han Z. Effect of fasting on cancer: A narrative review of scientific evidence. Cancer Sci. 2022;113(10):3291-302. doi:10.1111/cas.15492[20] Voss M, Wenger KJ, von Mettenheim N, et al. Short-term fasting in glioma patients: analysis of diet diaries and metabolic parameters of the ERGO2 trial. Eur J Nutr. 2022;61(1):477-487. doi:10.1007/s00394-021-02666-1[21] Zorn S, Ehret J, Schauble R, et al. Impact of modified short-term fasting and its combination with a fasting supportive diet during chemotherapy on the incidence andseverity of chemotherapy-induced toxicities in cancer patients - a controlled cross-over pilot study. BMC Cancer. 2020;20(1):578. doi:10.1186/s12885-020-07041-7

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.