The new study reported in Blood revealed that mice that underwent targeted therapy and caloric restrictions saw a 20-to-30 percent increase in overall survival.

For their study, researchers divided a group of mice diagnosed with lymphoma into separate factions to determine which course of treatment resulted in the longest average days of survival. After analyzing the different factors, researchers found:

• Mice that received targeted therapy and consumed 25% fewer calories lived for an average of 41 days.

• Mice that received targeted therapy and consumed a regular diet lived for an average of 33 days.

• Mice that consumed 25% fewer calories but did not receive targeted therapy lived for an average of 30 days.

• Mice that consumed a normal diet but did not receive targeted therapy lived for an average of 30 days.

Although many studies have examined how caloric intake affects cancer cell growth, few have explored the impact of caloric intake and treatment. Researchers correctly hypothesized that calorie restriction would help limit the expression of a protein that is often overexpressed in many types of cancers.

Dr. Jean-Ehrland Ricci, who works at the French Institute for Health and Mental Research, said he hopes the study can be used as a springboard for further research.

“This is just the beginning of out journey to bring these research findings to the clinical setting,” said Dr. Ricci. “We next want to examine what component of a reduced-calorie diet – fats, sugars, or another food component – influenced the lymphoma cells’ improved sensitivity to treatment.”

Dr. Silverman comments

This reminds me of the old adage “feed a cold and starve a fever.” Some have called that an old wive’s tale, but this new study shows that you can starve cancer.

Microbiotic diets and other cancer diets have been developed over the years with claims to decrease cancer occurrence, but this is one of the first studies to show a treatment effect. It’s very intuitive.

If the cancer is a rapidly dividing cell line, not providing it with an unending source of nutritional needs will slow down cell growth or kill the cell altogether. Diets can have great effects on survival.

Related source: MedPage Today

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