Duke University seeks to explore the link between carbohydrates and cancer in a first-ever randomized controlled trial that uses calorie restriction as a treatment for cancer.
Duke University has approved the study while single-group studies researching calorie restriction as a cancer treatment are being planned at Thomas Jefferson University (regarding breast cancer) and are currently underway at the University of Iowa (regarding pancreatic cancer).
Ranier Klement, M.D. and Radiation Oncologist at the University Hospital of Wurzburg in Germany states that "During the past 10 years or so, interest in the metabolism of cancer cells has seen a dramatic increase, which is surely why interest in dietary interventions...has increased." Additionally, in a recent email to Medscape Medical News Dr. Klement said wrote "The time is definitely ripe to test the various ways of altering cancer patients' metabolism — be it through physical exercise, ketogenic diets, fasting, or calorie restriction. The combination of these lifestyle interventions with the standards of care seems very promising to me..".
In a 2011 review by Klement, he hypothesized that suppressing carbohydrates could suppress or slow cancer growth and that the theory is supported by laboratory science and that complex carbohydrates are ultimately digested as glucose, which can cause tumor cells to proliferate." For more information regarding the Duke University study click here, the Thomas Jefferson University study click here, and the University of Iowa study click here.
Historically, research supports the notion that calorically restricted diets improve cancer outcomes. In addition, multiple studies of underweight patients have revealed a significantly lower cancer incidence than in the general population.
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