New study uses Keto diet to treat Brain CANCER

Summary

This video explores an innovative approach to cancer treatment known as metabolic therapy, which suggests that starving cancer cells by limiting glucose intake might be effective. It highlights a recent study involving glioblastoma patients who adhered to a ketogenic diet, showing promising results in survival rates for those who stuck to the diet. However, the study’s design, without a control group, raises concerns, and the results remain preliminary. The video encourages further research to confirm whether this diet can be a useful tool alongside traditional treatments for cancer management.

Takeaways

• 😀 Cancer is a leading cause of death, and the most common treatments are aggressive: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
• 😀 A new approach is being considered where we try to 'starve' cancer cells by reducing glucose, as cancer cells consume more glucose than normal cells.
• 😀 The Warburg effect, described by Otto Warburg in 1931, explains how tumor cells have a different way of metabolizing glucose, making them more glucose-hungry.
• 😀 Metabolic therapy, which reduces carbohydrate intake, has been proposed as a way to starve cancer cells, but its effectiveness needs to be tested in humans.
• 😀 Some tumors can also use fats or ketones for energy, so reducing carbohydrates might not always be effective in starving the cancer cells.
• 😀 A recent study conducted in Greece with 18 patients with glioblastoma (a tough form of brain cancer) tested a ketogenic diet alongside regular medical treatment.
• 😀 The ketogenic diet used in the study was the Mediterranean ketogenic diet, which focuses on healthy fats like olive oil, avocados, and fatty fish.
• 😀 Out of the 18 patients, only six adhered to the ketogenic diet for 6 months, and those six had significantly better survival rates compared to the non-compliant group.
• 😀 The study was observational (not randomized), so it has limitations, such as potential biases in patient selection and adherence to the diet.
• 😀 Although the results are promising, more large-scale randomized trials are needed to determine if ketogenic diets can be a useful tool in cancer treatment.

Q & A

What is the Warburg effect and how does it relate to cancer cells?

The Warburg effect refers to the phenomenon where cancer cells have altered metabolism and consume more glucose than normal cells. This is significant because it suggests that reducing glucose availability could potentially starve cancer cells, a concept that has been explored as a potential treatment for cancer.

What are the traditional methods used to treat cancer?

The traditional methods for treating cancer include surgery to remove the tumor, radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells, and chemotherapy, which uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells or stop their growth.

What is metabolic therapy, and how does it relate to the treatment of cancer?

Metabolic therapy is an experimental approach that seeks to treat cancer by targeting the metabolism of tumor cells, specifically by reducing glucose intake through dietary changes, such as low-carb or ketogenic diets, to potentially starve the cancer cells.

Why is it important to test the idea of reducing carbohydrates in cancer treatment on human patients?

It is crucial to test this idea on human patients because although lab and animal data may show promising results, human biology can differ significantly, and the effects of reducing carbohydrates on cancer cells must be demonstrated in humans for any conclusion to be valid.

What were the results of the study on ketogenic diets for glioblastoma patients?

In the study, glioblastoma patients who adhered to a Mediterranean ketogenic diet showed promising results, with 66% of those who strictly followed the diet surviving for 3 years or more, compared to only 8% of those who did not adhere to the diet.

What is a case series, and why should the results of the study be interpreted with caution?

A case series is a type of observational study that looks at a group of patients but lacks a control group for comparison. Results from case series should be interpreted cautiously because they are prone to biases, such as differences in patient characteristics or treatment adherence, which can skew the conclusions.

How did the patients' adherence to the ketogenic diet affect their survival rates?

Patients who adhered to the ketogenic diet had significantly better survival rates, with an average survival of 47 months compared to 15 months for non-compliers. However, this result must be interpreted cautiously due to the small sample size and lack of randomization in the study.

What confounders were present in the study that could affect its results?

One major confounder in the study was the type of surgery the patients received. Those in the compliant group more often had a total resection of their tumor, which is known to have a better prognosis than partial resections, which were more common in the non-compliant group.

What are some potential biases that could explain why some patients did not stick to the ketogenic diet?

Some of the reasons patients did not stick to the ketogenic diet included lack of support from family members, financial constraints, and lack of hope that the diet would make a difference. These factors could also affect their overall prognosis.

What are the challenges in conducting studies on low-carb or ketogenic diets for cancer treatment?

Challenges include the small sample sizes of existing studies, methodological issues such as lack of control groups, and the difficulty of isolating the effects of the diet from other treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, making it hard to draw definitive conclusions.