Scientists Studying Effect of Ketogenic Diet on Brain Cancer Treatment

11 Apr 2016 --- US scientists are studying whether a high-fat, low-sugar and carbohydrate diet can help brain cancer patients. Dr. Jong Rho and colleagues from the Alberta Children's Hospital are tracking the effects of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet for its potential to starve brain tumors and treat cancer patients.

The ketogenic diet was developed in the 1920s to help people with epilepsy. It works by forcing the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the body converts carbohydrates into glucose. But a low-carbohydrate diet causes the body to convert fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies; the latter acts as a replacement for glucose. High levels of ketone bodies are associated with reduced seizure frequency.

It is theorized that the ketogenic diet could be used to starve off some forms of cancer. Cancer cells use to glucose to grow, and they’re inefficient at using ketone bodies for energy.

So far, the diet’s effects on cancer cells has only been tried on animals and noted only anecdotally in human cases. A 2012 study on mice, found that ketogenic diet "significantly enhances" the anti-tumor effect of radiation.

Dr Rho, head of pediatric neurology, previously used the diet to treat patients with epilepsy and was part of the 2012 study.

However, Dr Rho cautions patients against trying the diet on their own: 
"We certainly don't want to communicate to families that diet is a replacement to existing therapies – it is not."

"It could be an adjunctive treatment in patients who have various forms of cancer. (They) should adopt current standards of care which involve a combination of surgery, chemotherapy radiation."

Traditional treatments for brain cancer include: neurosurgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Despite these efforts, the survival rate for some brain tumors ranges between eight months to less than two years.

Dr Rho said research on dietary treatments has been neglected over the years, so there is a need for further study to determine whether they can be an effective way to manage or cure cancer:

"While the anecdotal evidence is quite compelling, obviously we need more rigorous and controlled studies to find out if diet can be an effective option for patients with various forms of cancer."

There is also more evidence potentially on the horizon.

Researchers in Phoenix, Arizona, are hoping to put 80 patients with metastatic brain cancer on the ketogenic diet, in addition to chemotherapy and radiation, and track their progress.

"The beauty of this the ketogenic diet has been used for a very long time to treat epilepsy, especially kids who don't respond to medication," said Adrienne Scheck, professor of neurobiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

But getting funding for the treatment has been a challenge.

"There is no financial incentive. There is no drug company that will help support this, so getting it funded is difficult," said Professor Scheck.

Scientists from around the world are set to gather in Banff, Alberta this September to discuss future options at the Global Symposium on Ketogenic Therapies.