Starving Protects Healthy Cells From Chemotherapy, Study Says

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March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Short-term starvation techniques may help shield healthy cells from the damaging side effects of chemotherapy, while still leaving tumor cells vulnerable to treatment, researchers said.

A series of laboratory experiments in yeast, mice and human cells found that reducing the food supply for as long as 60 hours helped toughen normal cells and make chemotherapy work better on tumors, researchers said today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have known that limiting calorie consumption can help mice and other organisms live longer and avoid developing tumors. The new research suggests calorie restriction may also enhance chemotherapy for cancer patients. About 1.4 million people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with the disease this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

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The consistency of the findings across multiple species has caught the attention of cancer doctors at USC's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Doctors there are designing a clinical trial of as many as 20 cancer patients, to see how they perform on chemotherapy after fasting for a short period, compared with those on a normal diet, Longo said.

The clinical trial should begin within six months, Longo said.

Bloomberg

[Celebration]

1. actually this makes sense

Thank you for posting.

[WildClarySage]

2. Before trying this or recommending this to someone on Chemo, read

the entire article. This is not something you want to try without physician's approval because the risks from weakness and muscle atrophy are very dangerous for about 1/3 of chemo patients.