
Starving cancer by cutting off its favorite foods - EndXA
https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/10/02/starving-cancer-cutting-its-favorite-foods-glucose-and-glutamine-14314
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entee
Cancer favoring glucose has been known for a very long time, this is called
the Warburg Effect:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_effect_(oncology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_effect_\(oncology\))

Interesting new pharmacology for sure, but the end of the article is critical
here:

"Additionally, an accompanying commentary by William Katt and colleagues
indicated that there are no FDA-approved drugs that target glucose and
glutamine metabolism. This is because previous drug candidates proved to be
too toxic for use in humans."

It's really hard to go after glucose because it's kind of everywhere. If
there's a way to target this compound more specifically, maybe it could be
useful. As it stands now, it's very very far from being a viable drug (and it
doesn't sound like the authors claim otherwise). Cool science though.

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drwasho
I worked on this for multiple myeloma. DCA is nice but the concentrations you
need for treating people gives them peripheral neuropathy, which isn’t
trivial. But fwiw combining DCA with other drugs looks promising.

The issue is that cancer is polyclonal so there is a sub-population that
predominantly relies of aerobic glycolysis, but the sub-populations that
mostly metabolise glutamine or fatty acids will escape treatment... so you
need a bit of a shotgun approach, in combination with traditional anti-cancer
agents.

~~~
entee
That makes sense. I think most people underappreciate how polyclonal cancer
is. Every tumor isn't one cell, it's dozens or hundreds of different types of
cell, which makes it extremely hard to cover all the possible escape paths for
the cancer overall. As you mention, going with a shotgun approach of different
drugs can help, but that's when toxicity becomes a real problem. It's not
always possible to just give 2 drugs because one is so toxic on its own so you
might kill the patient. One of the theories I've heard about why we've made
relatively more progress on cancers in children is that they "heal" better,
which means they can actually tolerate higher doses for some of these drugs.

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dev_dull
> _your body closely regulates the level of glucose in your blood. Your brain
> would literally starve without it._

Is this actually true? Having done the ketogenic diet and bringing
carbohydrates down to almost nothing, my brain definitely didn't starve. In
fact, running on ketones was amazing.

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TimSchumann
The amount of carbohydrates you need in your diet to survive is exactly zero.
They’re a non-essential macronutrient.

The amount of glucose you need in your blood stream to keep everything running
smoothly is a very small amount easily produced by your body through a process
called gluconeogenesis.

I went 60 days sans any calories and my body self regulated glucose just fine.

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omarchowdhury
You went 60 days without eating?

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TimSchumann
Yep. Lost 80 lbs in 2 months. Got a few e-mails about this comment already so
I'm throwing together a quick summary of what I did, results, and logs I took
during the fast. Learned a lot since that fast though, it was over two years
ago at this point.

Eating is definitely optional if you have the body fat.

~~~
johnvanommen
For a second there, I thought you were this body builder:

[http://contests.npcnewsonline.com/contests/2018/npc_teen_col...](http://contests.npcnewsonline.com/contests/2018/npc_teen_collegiate__masters_national_championships/tim_schumann/)

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spacephysics
A carnivorous diet (meat only, zero carbs) would accomplish the same without
the pharmacological drawback. Been on the diet for over a year and have never
felt better in my life.

~~~
justsomeone88
Keto/carnivore is incredibly dangerous to the human body in the long run (5+
years out).

Excess protein (in fact, even in the amounts society recognizes as "normal")
is bad for you.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R07FL1wVo4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R07FL1wVo4)

~~~
Zelphyr
I've been on Keto for almost two years and recently had someone adamantly
scold me about how bad it is for my brain. My n=1 suggests otherwise. Things
like focus and mood are all significantly better than they were before.
Physical and mental stamina have both increased. I went from an "Obese" body
fat percentage to "Athletic" in six months.

But still, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and sincerely asked him, and
ask others here, "Please provide me with studies that show that it's 'horrible
for the brain'." I don't mean that to be snarky. I've looked and haven't been
able to find the studies. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places and I
would love to read the studies* that show how bad it is.

Towards the end of the conversation with this guy I found it amusing that he
stopped chiding me long enough to ask, "So... wait, what is Keto?"

* Peer-reviewed, scientifically rigorous studies only please.

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mark-r
Maybe your brain function is sufficiently impaired that you can't find the
studies?

Seriously, I had an accident in March that necessitated a brain operation and
left me in the hospital for over a month. The most surprising after-effect is
that I can't always predict or recognize the symptoms arising from that.

~~~
Zelphyr
My dad had a brain operation a few years ago. His recovery has been somewhat
slow and wasn't always smooth but it also wasn't as bad as I think we all
expected. Brains are mysterious organs. I wish you all the best in your
recovery.

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tick_tock_tick
I wonder if occasional long term fasts can reduce your cancer risk.

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anon1m0us
From my research, yes it can. I read a study that said patients who fast
during chemotherapy treatments fare better too.

The mechanism seems to be that during periods of fasting, normal cells "hunker
down" and restrict the consumption of nutrients and other materials. Cancer
cells don't do this though and continue to consume the nutrients, which are
actually chemotherapy drugs in the patients.

Fasting therfore increases the absorption of chemo by the cancer cells and
reduces the consumption by normal cells keeping the patient healthier.

Fasting also enables the body to more completely rid itself of cancerous cells
by consuming them in the absence of alternative sources of nutrition.

Lots of reasons why fasting is a good thing.

~~~
newen
Got any links to the research? Would be helpful to me and other readers.
Thanks.

~~~
ycalu
This article reviews and discusses a lot of the key research related to the
use of fasting for chemotherapy. [https://longevityy.com/fasting-and-cancer-
how-fasting-before...](https://longevityy.com/fasting-and-cancer-how-fasting-
before-chemotherapy-reduces-side-effects-improves-efficacy/)

Papers it discusses include: * Starvation-dependent differential stress
resistance protects normal but not cancer cells against high-dose chemotherapy
– Lizzia Raffaghello, Valter Longo et al. (2008)
[https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wmq7q6azyzfsubm/AACoCigKOQYxthruL...](https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wmq7q6azyzfsubm/AACoCigKOQYxthruLAuynC_Ya/Cancer/2008_PNAS_LizziaRaffaghello.pdf?dl=0)

* The effects of short-term fasting on tolerance to (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy in HER2-negative breast cancer patients: a randomized pilot study – Stefanie de Groot et al. (2015) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595051/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595051/)

* Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report – Valter Longo et al. (2009) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/)

* Fasting-Mimicking Diet Reduces HO-1 to Promote T Cell-Mediated Tumor Cytotoxicity – Di Biase et al. (2016) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27411588](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27411588)

* The effects of short-term fasting on quality of life and tolerance to chemotherapy in patients with breast and ovarian cancer: a randomized cross-over pilot study – Bauersfeld et al (2018) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29699509](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29699509)

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pcarolan
The article is about what cancer eats, not what you eat. The world’s leading
neuro-oncologists I’ve talked to don’t believe diet matters.

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bahrd
Yep, bodies filled with glucose unless you're starving to death. Eat fat;
glycogenolysis turns it into glucose for your cells; eat protein, the amino
acids are used in gluconeogenesis to synthesize glucose. Pretty crucial for
cellular respiration.

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Madmallard
I have endogenous hyperinsulinemia (mostly proinsulin). That means I really
can't go without consuming sugar or I will get neuroglycopenic. What's
interesting is (they don't know yet) this could be caused by a type of
pancreatic cancer. Seems really bad then if the cancer itself wants more
sugar. Maybe this is why Steve Jobs tended toward fruits for 9 months and
ended up with metastasis...

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fortran77
In general, people who overeat are more susceptible to many forms of cancer,
and cancers are more virulent among overeaters.

[https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-
prevention/risk/o...](https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-
prevention/risk/obesity/obesity-fact-sheet)

It would make sense that by limiting food intake, cancers would progress
slower.

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ajessup
This is great science writing. Straightforward, factual, and with context to
help folks put the findings into perspective. It's a refreshing change from
the hyperbolic coverage of scientific topics one often finds in more
mainstream media.

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collyw
Shit, a lot of things that I had considered healthy are high in glutamine.

~~~
ycalu
It's worth clarifying that glutamine isn't unhealthy in moderate amounts.

It's just that when treating cancer, there may be opportunity to modify its
intake and see benefits.

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kd3
Starve cancer with cannabis oil with 95% THC concentration. Don't suffer, the
cure has existed for thousands of years.

