Can the diet help with cancer treatment? The study in the mouse offers clues

The study, published Thursday in the journal Nature, revealed that reducing the intake of an amino acid present in red meat and eggs significantly improved the treatment of cancer in mice, slowing tumor growth.

"These are very strong effects, and they are effects that are as strong as we would see with drugs that work," said lead researcher Jason Locasale, badociate professor at the Duke University School of Medicine.

"What this study shows is that there are many situations in which a drug in itself does not work, but if you combine the drug on a diet, it works." Or radiotherapy does not work well, but if you combine … with the diet, it works well, "he told AFP

The study is focused on restricting the consumption of the amino acid methionine, which is the key to a process called monocarbon metabolism that helps cancer cells to develop.

Methionine restriction has already been badociated with both aging and weight loss, but its importance to cancer cells has suggested that it may also be a promising way to improve cancer treatment.

"Starve cancer"

The researchers first tested the methionine restriction in healthy mice to confirm that it had the desired effects on the metabolism.

They discovered that a low dose of chemotherapy, which had no effect on colorectal cancer, led to a "marked inhibition of tumor growth" when it was badociated with a restriction by methionine .

Similarly, the reduction of methionine badociated with radiotherapy in the case of soft tissue sarcoma reduced tumor growth.

"You starve the cancer cells of certain nutrients, at a very basic level," Locasale explained.

He warned that the results should not be extrapolated beyond the cancers tested so far, and that research was far from being tested in humans.

"This is certainly not a panacea, a panacea for cancer, it is not a panacea," he said.

Independent experts also cautioned against over-reading the study.

"Before drawing conclusions about the potential for dietary restriction as an approach to treating cancer, human studies are needed," said Paul Pharoah, professor of cancer epidemiology at the University. from Cambridge.

& # 39; Really exciting & # 39;

Locasale and his colleagues continued their research by testing a restricted diet of methionine in six healthy humans. They also found that the effect on human metabolism seemed similar to that seen in mice.

This suggests that the diet could have a similar effect on some tumors in humans, although Locasale warned that it was far too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

And Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London, warned that "there is no evidence in this study that suggests that following a vegan diet will help cancer patients ".

Locasale said he hoped to eventually be able to test research on cancer patients, but said that nutrition research often found it difficult to obtain funds because it offered unprofitable treatments.

Nevertheless, he added that this work adds to the many research suggesting that diet could play an important role in the treatment of cancer.

Last year, a study showed that a type of chemotherapy drug was more effective in combination with a diet low in sugar and high in protein and fat. It seems that other cancers are better combated in combination with low-sugar diets.

"Such research can lead to studies on people," said Justin Stebbing, professor of oncology and oncology at Imperial College London.

"The influence of dietary interventions on cancer (…) will probably be very important in the years to come."

Locasale agreed, calling the field "a really exciting area right now … where we see that the diet has a huge effect on human health".

He hopes for a future where doctors can eventually advise cancer patients to follow a specific diet to help with their treatment.

"We are not there yet, but the goal is to reach the end.