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Fasting may help cure cancer
Fasting 'could help combat cancer and
boost effectiveness of treatments'
Geeky Science! Does fasting help cancer? - YouTube
- Fasting slowed growth and spread of tumours
- Cured some cancers if combined with chemotherapy
- Human trials now under way
By SADIE WHITELOCKS
UPDATED: 20:04 GMT, 8 February 2012
Going without food for short periods may help to combat cancer and boost the effectiveness
of treatments, say scientists. A study found fasting slowed the growth and spread of tumours
and cured some cancers when it was combined with chemotherapy.
It is hoped that the discovery will prompt the development of more effective treatment plans
and further research is now under way.
The latest investigation, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, found that tumour
cells responded differently to the stress of fasting compared to normal cells.
Instead of entering a dormant state similar to hibernation, the cells kept growing and dividing, in the
end destroying themselves.
Lead researcher Professor Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California said: 'The cell is, in
fact, committing cellular suicide. 'What we're seeing is that the cancer cell tries to compensate for the
lack of all these things missing in the blood after fasting. It may be trying to replace them, but it can't.'
Professor Longo and his team looked at the impact fasting had on breast, urinary tract and ovarian
cancers in mice. Fasting without chemotherapy was shown to slow the growth of breast cancer, melanoma
skin cancer, glioma brain cancer and neuroblastoma - a cancer that forms in the nerve tissue.
Scientists found tumour cells responded differently to the stress of fasting compared to normal cells
In every case, combining fasting with chemotherapy made the cancer treatment more effective.
Multiple cycles of fasting combined with chemotherapy cured 20 per cent of those with a highly
aggressive form of cancer while 40 per cent with a limited spread of the same cancer were cured.
None of the mice survived if they were treated with chemotherapy alone.
Researchers are already investigating the effects of fasting on human patients, but only a clinical
trial lasting several years will confirm if human cancer patients really can benefit from calorie restriction.
However they highlight that fasting could be dangerous for patients who have already lost a lot of
weight or are affected by other risk factors, such as diabetes.
Results of a preliminary clinical trial will be presented at an annual meeting of the American Society of
Cancer Oncologists (Asco) in Chicago this June.
Prof Longo points out that the study only tests if patients could tolerate short fasts of two days before
and one day after chemotherapy. 'We don't know whether in humans it's effective,' he said.
'It should be off-limits to patients, but a patient should be able to go to their oncologist and say,
'what about fasting with chemotherapy?' or without if chemotherapy was not recommended or considered.'
Previous research led by Prof Longo showed that fasting protected normal cells from the effects of
chemotherapy but it did not look at cancer cells. It is now though fasting may be one way to make tumour
cells weaker and more vulnerable.
Prof Longo added: 'A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but
to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting, that only normal cells can quickly
respond to.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2Fn8TEZpJ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
boost effectiveness of treatments'
Geeky Science! Does fasting help cancer? - YouTube
- Fasting slowed growth and spread of tumours
- Cured some cancers if combined with chemotherapy
- Human trials now under way
By SADIE WHITELOCKS
UPDATED: 20:04 GMT, 8 February 2012
Going without food for short periods may help to combat cancer and boost the effectiveness
of treatments, say scientists. A study found fasting slowed the growth and spread of tumours
and cured some cancers when it was combined with chemotherapy.
It is hoped that the discovery will prompt the development of more effective treatment plans
and further research is now under way.
The latest investigation, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, found that tumour
cells responded differently to the stress of fasting compared to normal cells.
Instead of entering a dormant state similar to hibernation, the cells kept growing and dividing, in the
end destroying themselves.
Lead researcher Professor Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California said: 'The cell is, in
fact, committing cellular suicide. 'What we're seeing is that the cancer cell tries to compensate for the
lack of all these things missing in the blood after fasting. It may be trying to replace them, but it can't.'
Professor Longo and his team looked at the impact fasting had on breast, urinary tract and ovarian
cancers in mice. Fasting without chemotherapy was shown to slow the growth of breast cancer, melanoma
skin cancer, glioma brain cancer and neuroblastoma - a cancer that forms in the nerve tissue.
Scientists found tumour cells responded differently to the stress of fasting compared to normal cells
In every case, combining fasting with chemotherapy made the cancer treatment more effective.
Multiple cycles of fasting combined with chemotherapy cured 20 per cent of those with a highly
aggressive form of cancer while 40 per cent with a limited spread of the same cancer were cured.
None of the mice survived if they were treated with chemotherapy alone.
Researchers are already investigating the effects of fasting on human patients, but only a clinical
trial lasting several years will confirm if human cancer patients really can benefit from calorie restriction.
However they highlight that fasting could be dangerous for patients who have already lost a lot of
weight or are affected by other risk factors, such as diabetes.
Results of a preliminary clinical trial will be presented at an annual meeting of the American Society of
Cancer Oncologists (Asco) in Chicago this June.
Prof Longo points out that the study only tests if patients could tolerate short fasts of two days before
and one day after chemotherapy. 'We don't know whether in humans it's effective,' he said.
'It should be off-limits to patients, but a patient should be able to go to their oncologist and say,
'what about fasting with chemotherapy?' or without if chemotherapy was not recommended or considered.'
Previous research led by Prof Longo showed that fasting protected normal cells from the effects of
chemotherapy but it did not look at cancer cells. It is now though fasting may be one way to make tumour
cells weaker and more vulnerable.
Prof Longo added: 'A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but
to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting, that only normal cells can quickly
respond to.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2Fn8TEZpJ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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