Starving the cancer

I’ve now managed to read the review I mentioned in the previous post.  As I said, this is about the benefits of restricting various nutrients during cancer therapy.  The authors acknowledge periodic fasting (as outlined in the previous post) but think it’s of little use because cancer patients are often frail and won’t withstand the rigors of fasting.  An obvious alternative, periodic low-calorie and low-protein feeding results in a similar anti-cancer effect to that of prolonged fasting.  This caloric restriction has been popularized as the best way of extending one’s life span.  It is apparently easier to comply with and does less damage to a patient’s fitness than fasting.

Even caloric restriction has negative aspects.  Weight loss results if one consistently consumes fewer calories than one expends.  This is not a problem with periodic fasting.  The longer periods of feasting usually restore the patient’s body weight, much as the time off between chemotherapy sessions usually restores a patient’s blood cells and good spirits.  In contrast, a protracted caloric deficit might render a patient weak and maybe even incapacitated.

How about just restricting the amount of glucose in one’s diet?  Glucose is a critical nutrient that enters various metabolic pathways.  Tumors need it at high levels to support their growth.  Avoiding carbohydrates and following a so-called ketogenic diet would achieve that.  The keto diet doesn’t work for people with mutations in the PI3K pathway, which mediates glucose-driving signalling.  In cancers where this pathway is constitutively active, the amount of glucose makes little difference.  I don’t have mutations in this pathway.  Maybe I could go keto.  As chance has it, Flucha tried this for a week or so not too long ago.  She cooked a few interesting meals that turned out surprisingly tasty.

Among the three options, periodic fasting sounds the most sensible.  It is the simplest but has the most serious impact on your metabolism.  Instead of restricting this or that nutrient, you restrict them all.  To fight cancer, it makes sense to use the biggest guns in the arsenal.  I think I’m strong enough to go without food for a few days.  To find out how it feels – without having to deal with chemotherapy at the same time – I will fast over the next three days.  I had my last meal this evening at 7 pm.  I’ll eat again on Wednesday night.  Let’s see how I fare until then.