Low Carb and Cancer

[KrisA]

My mom just been diagnosed with sarcoma (growth on her wrist which everyone thought was a ganglion cyst).

So far the doctors are telling me that because of her age (90) treatments are going to have to be very limited, and I agree with them.

I've read on the internet about low carbing being helpful to cancer survival because cancer needs sugars to grow and spread. I'm not sure I'll be able to get her to give up her crispy rice morning cereal, bread and desert after dinner, but was curious if anyone has had any experinece with this before I push the issue with her.

Thanks.

k

[jezzie]

I've read on the internet about low carbing being helpful to cancer survival
because cancer needs sugars to grow and spread.

If only it were that simple ... we could all beat it.

I had an employee who never ate white foods or sugar, got cancer, who is no longer with us.
And a cousin who beat cancer and - was as far from being a health nut as you can get.

However two people does not a statistic make.

If medically proven treatments are limited - you have nothing to lose.
There's something to be said for the Magic of Believing.

My thoughts will be with you and your mother.

[Stackeyha]

Let's say this...it certainly couldn't hurt.

I've actually talked to a couple of people who have beaten cancer naturally now...but again, no statistics really. I also have a friend who's dd had cancer...and beat it but in conjuction with chemo therapy (here is a link to the supplements that they took - Jillian | Team Bettendorf ) (you can read her actual story as it was happening here Team Bettendorf - Archives (February 2007) ... going through the archives starting in Feb of 2007).

From what I can tell the best bet for beating cancer is boosting that immune system so that the immune system can beat it...I know that vitamin C is important...and as you can see from the list of supplements...MOST of them are specific immune boosters.

All that to say...there are things that you can try...there are never any guarantees...but in a way, maybe NOT being able to use some things will be a bit of a blessing.

Praying for you and your momma...I'm so sorry that you are going through this.

[sarahm19]

I'm gonna have to play it on the safe side with this one as well and say nothing is scientifically proven as far as decreasing carbs and slowing the growth of cancer, however there are several links. For instance, tumors demand glucose, that is known. Here are two studies that back your view:

A low-carb diet may stunt prostate tumor growth

DURHAM, N.C. -- A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of prostate tumors, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stall tumor growth.

“This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at least in mice,” said Stephen Freedland, M.D., a urologist at Duke University Medical Center and lead researcher on the study. “If this is ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can control, our diets.”

Freedland conducted most of the research for this study while doing a fellowship in urology at Johns Hopkins’ Brady Urological Institute under the tutelage of William Isaacs, Ph.D., a molecular geneticist there.

The researchers published their results on November 13, 2007 in the online edition of the journal Prostate. The study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Surgery and the Division of Urology at Duke University Medical Center, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program.

The researchers hypothesized that since serum insulin and a related substance known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) had been linked with the growth of prostate tumors in earlier research in mice, a reduction in the body’s levels of these substances might slow tumor growth, Freedland said.

The researchers compared tumor growth in 75 mice that were eating either a low-carbohydrate diet, a low-fat but high-carbohydrate diet, or a Western diet, high in fat and carbohydrates.

The mice that ate a low-carbohydrate diet had the longest survival and smallest tumor size, Freedland said.

“Low-fat mice had shorter survival and larger tumors while mice on the Western diet had the worst survival and biggest tumors,” he said. “In addition, though both the low-carb and low-fat mice had lower levels of insulin, only the low-carb mice had lower levels of the form of IGF capable of stimulating tumor growth.”

The low-carbohydrate diet definitely had the most significant effect on tumor growth and survival, he said.

The next step will be to test the findings of this study in humans, and further examine the potential positive effects that a low-carbohydrate diet may have on tumor growth, Freedland said.

“We are planning to start clinical trials sometime next year,” he said. “The results of this study are very promising, but of course much more work needs to be done.”

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Effects of a ketogenic diet on tumor metabolism and nutritional status in pediatric oncology patients: two case reports.

Nebeling LC, Miraldi F, Shurin SB, Lerner E. Nutrition Department, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
J Am Coll Nutr 1995 Apr;14(2):202-208

"OBJECTIVE: Establish dietary-induced ketosis in pediatric oncology patients to determine if a ketogenic state would decrease glucose availability to certain tumors, thereby potentially impairing tumor metabolism without adversely affecting the patient's overall nutritional status. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: University Hospitals of Cleveland. SUBJECTS: Two female pediatric patients with advanced stage malignant Astrocytoma tumors. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were followed as outpatients for 8 weeks. Ketosis was maintained by consuming a 60% medium chain triglyceride oil-based diet. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Tumor glucose metabolism was assessed by Positron Emission Tomography (PET), comparing [Fluorine-18] 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) uptake at the tumor site before and following the trial period. RESULTS: Within 7 days of initiating the ketogenic diet, blood glucose levels declined to low-normal levels and blood ketones were elevated twenty to thirty fold. Results of PET scans indicated a 21.8% average decrease in glucose uptake at the tumor site in both subjects. One patient exhibited significant clinical improvements in mood and new skill development during the study. She continued the ketogenic diet for an additional twelve months, remaining free of disease progression. CONCLUSION: While this diet does not replace conventional antineoplastic treatments, these preliminary results suggest a potential for clinical application which merits further research.

Comments: Cancer tumors grow fast --- to do that, they need a lot of food. Many tumors can only use glucose for food. They had two women with that kind of tumor. They gave them a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet. This lowered the amount of glucose in their blood. PET scans showed that the tumors were getting 22% less food. Presumably, this slowed the tumors' growth by quite a bit. One of the patients got significantly better."

[sugarfreedee]

It has been proven that sugar feeds Cancer.

I would, however, not restrict your Mom from having her favorite cereal as long as it's not multiple times during the day.

God bless your Mom. She is so fortunate to live into her 90's. My Grandmother had multiple medical issues and died at the age of 69 in the early 1980's.

[KrisA]

Thanks, everyone for your feedback. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

I'm feeling so helpless. I have to try something if the doctors don't or even if they do!

Sugarfeedee: I am lucky to have had both of my parents into their 90's. I attribute a lot of it to the fact that for years and years we grew our own food on our little farm. Eggs, chickens, pigs, cows, veggies of all sorts. I think that made a big difference for them. They continued with the garden years after I got married and moved away and I think it made all the difference for them.

So, guess mom can keep her cereal in the morning and maybe her half sandwich for lunch, although I'm going to try to make her other stuff for lunch if she'll eat it. We'll just see how it goes. She's having cauliflower rice for dinner. I'm not going to tell her it's not the real thing and see how it goes.

Again, thanks for all of your help and encouragement. I'll let you know how it goes.

k

[KrisA]

I'm so exhausted I can hardly type but wanted to give you all a quick update.

Mom and I and Dear Cousin went to the oncoloist today. I liked him very much. He feels that mom is probably out of the woods but he's ordered a CAT scan to be sure the tumor didn't kick any of the kids out of the house. He sees no evidence of that but wants to make sure. She'll has an appointment with the UCONN Medical Arts and Research people (he kept saying how rare and unusual her tumor was) but felt that one visit should be sufficient and that one only for the benefit of their research people. I'm going to rearrange the appointment so it's after the CAT scan. Seems the proper order to me. She will have a little radiation treatment just to be sure and then we're done, I hope.

Very hopeful appointment and all good news as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks, everyone for all of your help. I think that I will try to limit mom's carbs a bit just in case. I'll have to play that one by ear. I can't see making her life miserable if she can't understand why I'm doing it and wants her bread or potato. I did make cauliflower rice the other night and she didn't object, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

k