Skip to main content
Book cover

Metabolism in Cancer pp 233–240Cite as

Ketogenic Diet and Cancer—a Perspective

Part of the Recent Results in Cancer Research book series (RECENTCANCER,volume 207)

Abstract

Research of the last two decades showed that chronic low-grade inflammation, elevated blood glucose and insulin levels may play role in the onset of a number of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. Regular exercise and fasting can ameliorate high blood glucose and insulin levels as well as increase the concentration of plasma ketone bodies. These, in consequence, may lead to reduction of inflammation. Exercise or severe restriction of caloric intake is not always advisable for patients, in particular those suffering from cancer. The ketogenic diet (KD), characterized by high fat, moderate protein and very low carbohydrate composition can evoke a physiological state similar to that triggered by exercise or fasting. These attributes of KD prompted its possible use in treatment of a number of metabolic diseases, including several types of malignancies. Although results from clinical studies employing KD in the treatment of cancer are still limited, the results obtained from animal models are encouraging and show that KD presents a viable option as an adjunct therapy for cancer.

Keywords

  • Ketogenic diet
  • Cancer therapy
  • Cancer
  • Ketone bodies
  • Metabolism

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

References

  • Abdelwahab MG, Fenton KE, Preul MC, Rho JM, Lynch A, Stafford P, S AC (2012) The ketogenic diet is an effective adjuvant to radiation therapy for the treatment of malignant glioma. PLoS ONE 7(5):36197. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036197

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Allen BG, Bhatia SK, Buatti JM, Brandt KE, Lindholm KE, Button AM, Szweda LI, Smith BJ, Spitz DR, Fath MA (2013) Ketogenic diets enhance oxidative stress and radio-chemo-therapy responses in lung cancer xenografts. Clin Cancer Res 19(14):3905–3913. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-12-0287

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Appavu B, Mangum T, Obeid M (2015) Glucose transporter 1 deficiency: a treatable cause of opsoclonus and epileptic myoclonus. Pediatr Neurol 53(4):364–366. doi:10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2015.05.019

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baranano KW, Hartman AL (2008) The ketogenic diet: uses in epilepsy and other neurologic illnesses. Curr Treat Options Neurol 10(6):410–419

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beck SA, Tisdale MJ (1989) Effect of insulin on weight loss and tumour growth in a cachexia model. Br J Cancer 59(5):677–681

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beulertz J, Prokop A, Rustler V, Bloch W, Felsch M, Baumann FT (2015) Effects of a 6-month, group-based, therapeutic exercise program for childhood cancer outpatients on motor performance, level of activity, and quality of life. Pediatr Blood Cancer. doi:10.1002/pbc.25640

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharyya S, Feferman L, Unterman T, Tobacman JK (2015) Exposure to common food additive carrageenan alone leads to fasting hyperglycemia and in combination with high fat diet exacerbates glucose intolerance and hyperlipidemia without effect on weight. J Diabetes Res 2015:513429. doi:10.1155/2015/513429

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bozzetti F, Zupec-Kania B (2015) Toward a cancer-specific diet. Clin Nutr. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2015.01.013

    Google Scholar 

  • Calder PC (2015) Functional roles of fatty acids and their effects on human health. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. doi:10.1177/0148607115595980

    Google Scholar 

  • Chettouh H, Lequoy M, Fartoux L, Vigouroux C, Desbois-Mouthon C (2015) Hyperinsulinaemia and insulin signalling in the pathogenesis and the clinical course of hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver Int. doi:10.1111/liv.12903

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dang MT, Wehrli S, Dang CV, Curran T (2015) The ketogenic diet does not affect growth of hedgehog pathway medulloblastoma in mice. PLoS ONE 10(7):0133633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133633

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Deer J, Koska J, Ozias M, Reaven P (2015) Dietary models of insulin resistance. Metabolism 64(2):163–171. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2014.08.013

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deng L, Zhou JF, Sellers RS, Li JF, Nguyen AV, Wang Y, Orlofsky A, Liu Q, Hume DA, Pollard JW, Augenlicht L, Lin EY (2010) A novel mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease links mammalian target of rapamycin-dependent hyperproliferation of colonic epithelium to inflammation-associated tumorigenesis. Am J Pathol 176(2):952–967. doi:10.2353/ajpath.2010.090622

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Di Lorenzo C, Coppola G, Sirianni G, Di Lorenzo G, Bracaglia M, Di Lenola D, Siracusano A, Rossi P, Pierelli F (2015) Migraine improvement during short lasting ketogenesis: a proof-of-concept study. Eur J Neurol 22(1):170–177. doi:10.1111/ene.12550

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dressler A, Trimmel-Schwahofer P, Reithofer E, Groppel G, Muhlebner A, Samueli S, Grabner V, Abraham K, Benninger F, Feucht M (2015) The ketogenic diet in infants—Advantages of early use. Epilepsy Res 116:53–58. doi:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2015.06.015

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dupuis N, Curatolo N, Benoist JF, Auvin S (2015) Ketogenic diet exhibits anti-inflammatory properties. Epilepsia 56(7):95–98. doi:10.1111/epi.13038

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Evangeliou A, Vlachonikolis I, Mihailidou H, Spilioti M, Skarpalezou A, Makaronas N, Prokopiou A, Christodoulou P, Liapi-Adamidou G, Helidonis E, Sbyrakis S, Smeitink J (2003) Application of a ketogenic diet in children with autistic behavior: pilot study. J Child Neurol 18(2):113–118

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferroni P, Riondino S, Buonomo O, Palmirotta R, Guadagni F, Roselli M (2015) Type 2 diabetes and breast cancer: the interplay between impaired glucose metabolism and oxidant stress. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2015:183928. doi:10.1155/2015/183928

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Freedland SJ, Mavropoulos J, Wang A, Darshan M, Demark-Wahnefried W, Aronson WJ, Cohen P, Hwang D, Peterson B, Fields T, Pizzo SV, Isaacs WB (2008) Carbohydrate restriction, prostate cancer growth, and the insulin-like growth factor axis. Prostate 68(1):11–19. doi:10.1002/pros.20683

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman AN, Chambers M, Kamendulis LM, Temmerman J (2013) Short-term changes after a weight reduction intervention in advanced diabetic nephropathy. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 8(11):1892–1898. doi:10.2215/cjn.04010413

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gluschnaider U, Hertz R, Ohayon S, Smeir E, Smets M, Pikarsky E, Bar-Tana J (2014) Long-chain fatty acid analogues suppress breast tumorigenesis and progression. Cancer Res 74(23):6991–7002. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.can-14-0385

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Pinillos A, Ferrari AC (2012) mTOR signaling pathway and mTOR inhibitors in cancer therapy. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 26 (3):483–505, vii. doi:10.1016/j.hoc.2012.02.014

    Google Scholar 

  • Halder RC, Almasi A, Sagong B, Leung J, Jewett A, Fiala M (2015) Curcuminoids and omega-3 fatty acids with anti-oxidants potentiate cytotoxicity of natural killer cells against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells and inhibit interferon gamma production. Front Physiol 6:129. doi:10.3389/fphys.2015.00129

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Harbige LS (2003) Fatty acids, the immune response, and autoimmunity: a question of n-6 essentiality and the balance between n-6 and n-3. Lipids 38(4):323–341

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hertz L, Chen Y, Waagepetersen HS (2015) Effects of ketone bodies in Alzheimer’s disease in relation to neural hypometabolism, beta-amyloid toxicity, and astrocyte function. J Neurochem 134(1):7–20. doi:10.1111/jnc.13107

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hojlund K (2014) Metabolism and insulin signaling in common metabolic disorders and inherited insulin resistance. Dan Med J 61(7):B4890

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Z, Qi H, Zhang R, Zhang K, Shi Z, Chang Y, Chen L, Esmaeili M, Baniahmad A, Hong W (2015) Docosahexaenoic acid inhibits the growth of hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells by promoting the degradation of the androgen receptor. Mol Med Rep 12(3):3769–3774. doi:10.3892/mmr.2015.3813

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JB, Summer W, Cutler RG, Martin B, Hyun DH, Dixit VD, Pearson M, Nassar M, Telljohann R, Maudsley S, Carlson O, John S, Laub DR, Mattson MP (2007) Alternate day calorie restriction improves clinical findings and reduces markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in overweight adults with moderate asthma. Free Radic Biol Med 42(5):665–674. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2006.12.005

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim DY, Davis LM, Sullivan PG, Maalouf M, TA Simeone, van Brederode J, Rho JM (2007) Ketone bodies are protective against oxidative stress in neocortical neurons. J Neurochem 101(5):1316–1326. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.04483.x

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klepper J, Diefenbach S, Kohlschutter A, Voit T (2004) Effects of the ketogenic diet in the glucose transporter 1 deficiency syndrome. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 70(3):321–327. doi:10.1016/j.plefa.2003.07.004

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee YY, Yang YP, Huang PI, Li WC, Huang MC, Kao CL, Chen YJ, Chen MT (2015) Exercise suppresses COX-2 pro-inflammatory pathway in vestibular migraine. Brain Res Bull 116:98–105. doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2015.06.005

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leitzmann M, Powers H, Anderson AS, Scoccianti C, Berrino F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Cecchini M, Espina C, Key TJ, Norat T, Wiseman M, Romieu I (2015) European code against cancer 4th edition: physical activity and cancer. Cancer Epidemiol. doi:10.1016/j.canep.2015.03.009

    Google Scholar 

  • Li HF, Zou Y, Ding G (2013) Therapeutic success of the ketogenic diet as a treatment option for epilepsy: a meta-analysis. Iran J Pediatr 23(6):613–620

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lukyanova EG, Ayvazyan SO, Osipova KV, Pyreva EA, Sorvacheva TN (2015) Experience of using ketogenic diet in a patient with glucose transporter 1 deficiency syndrome (a case report). Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr In: Korsakova SS (ed) 115 (5 Part 2 Children’s Neurology And Psychiatry):53–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Magee BA, Potezny N, Rofe AM, Conyers RA (1979) The inhibition of malignant cell growth by ketone bodies. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci 57(5):529–539

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mansara P, Ketkar M, Deshpande R, Chaudhary A, Shinde K, Kaul-Ghanekar R (2015) Improved antioxidant status by omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a case series. J Med Case Rep 9:148. doi:10.1186/s13256-015-0619-3

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Martinon F, Gaide O, Petrilli V, Mayor A, Tschopp J (2007) NALP inflammasomes: a central role in innate immunity. Semin Immunopathol 29(3):213–229. doi:10.1007/s00281-007-0079-y

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer GD, Brucker DP, Bahr O, Harter PN, Hattingen E, Walenta S, Mueller-Klieser W, Steinbach JP, Rieger J (2011) Differential utilization of ketone bodies by neurons and glioma cell lines: a rationale for ketogenic diet as experimental glioma therapy. BMC Cancer 11:315. doi:10.1186/1471-2407-11-315

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mavropoulos JC, Yancy WS, Hepburn J, Westman EC (2005) The effects of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet on the polycystic ovary syndrome: a pilot study. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2:35. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-35

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mavropoulos JC, Buschemeyer WC 3rd, Tewari AK, Rokhfeld D, Pollak M, Zhao Y, Febbo PG, Cohen P, Hwang D, Devi G, Demark-Wahnefried W, Westman EC, Peterson BL, Pizzo SV, Freedland SJ (2009) The effects of varying dietary carbohydrate and fat content on survival in a murine LNCaP prostate cancer xenograft model. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2(6):557–565. doi:10.1158/1940-6207.capr-08-0188

    CrossRef  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel SS, Rensing NR, Thio LL, Yamada KA, Wong M (2011) The ketogenic diet inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Epilepsia 52(3):7–11. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2011.02981.x

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • McGettrick AF, O’Neill LA (2013) How metabolism generates signals during innate immunity and inflammation. J Biol Chem 288(32):22893–22898. doi:10.1074/jbc.R113.486464

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Metsios GS, Stavropoulos-Kalinoglou A, Kitas GD (2015) The role of exercise in the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Expert Rev Clin Immunol:1–10. doi:10.1586/1744666x.2015.1067606

    Google Scholar 

  • Mocellin MC, Camargo CQ, Nunes EA, Fiates GM, Trindade EB (2015) A systematic review and meta-analysis of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids effects on inflammatory markers in colorectal cancer. Clin Nutr. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2015.04.013

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno B, Bellido D, Sajoux I, Goday A, Saavedra D, Crujeiras AB, Casanueva FF (2014) Comparison of a very low-calorie-ketogenic diet with a standard low-calorie diet in the treatment of obesity. Endocrine 47(3):793–805. doi:10.1007/s12020-014-0192-3

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy P, Likhodii S, Nylen K, Burnham WM (2004) The antidepressant properties of the ketogenic diet. Biol Psychiatry 56(12):981–983. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.09.019

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nazarewicz RR, Ziolkowski W, Vaccaro PS, Ghafourifar P (2007) Effect of short-term ketogenic diet on redox status of human blood. Rejuvenation Res 10(4):435–440. doi:10.1089/rej.2007.0540

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nebeling LC, Miraldi F, Shurin SB, Lerner E (1995) Effects of a ketogenic diet on tumor metabolism and nutritional status in pediatric oncology patients: two case reports. J Am Coll Nutr 14(2):202–208

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nei M, Ngo L, Sirven JI, Sperling MR (2014) Ketogenic diet in adolescents and adults with epilepsy. Seizure 23(6):439–442. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2014.02.015

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Newport MT, VanItallie TB, Kashiwaya Y, King MT, Veech RL (2015) A new way to produce hyperketonemia: use of ketone ester in a case of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement 11(1):99–103. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2014.01.006

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Onodera Y, Nam JM, Bissell MJ (2014) Increased sugar uptake promotes oncogenesis via EPAC/RAP1 and O-GlcNAc pathways. J Clin Invest 124(1):367–384. doi:10.1172/jci63146

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Otto C, Kaemmerer U, Illert B, Muehling B, Pfetzer N, Wittig R, Voelker HU, Thiede A, Coy JF (2008) Growth of human gastric cancer cells in nude mice is delayed by a ketogenic diet supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides. BMC Cancer 8:122. doi:10.1186/1471-2407-8-122

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Poff AM, Ward N, Seyfried TN, Arnold P, D’Agostino DP (2015) Non-toxic metabolic management of metastatic cancer in vm mice: novel combination of ketogenic diet, ketone supplementation, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. PLoS ONE 10(6):0127407. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127407

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Raiten DJ, Sakr Ashour FA, Ross AC, Meydani SN, Dawson HD, Stephensen CB, Brabin BJ, Suchdev PS, van Ommen B (2015) Inflammation and nutritional science for programs/policies and interpretation of research evidence (INSPIRE). J Nutr 145(5):1039S–1108S. doi:10.3945/jn.114.194571

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rhyu HS, Cho SY, Roh HT (2014) The effects of ketogenic diet on oxidative stress and antioxidative capacity markers of Taekwondo athletes. J Exerc Rehabil 10(6):362–366. doi:10.12965/jer.140178

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rieger J, Bahr O, Maurer GD, Hattingen E, Franz K, Brucker D, Walenta S, Kammerer U, Coy JF, Weller M, Steinbach JP (2014) ERGO: a pilot study of ketogenic diet in recurrent glioblastoma. Int J Oncol 44(6):1843–1852. doi:10.3892/ijo.2014.2382

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rose DP, Connolly JM, Rayburn J, Coleman M (1995) Influence of diets containing eicosapentaenoic or docosahexaenoic acid on growth and metastasis of breast cancer cells in nude mice. J Natl Cancer Inst 87(8):587–592

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy S, Brasky TM, Belury MA, Krishnan S, Cole RM, Marian C, Yee LD, Llanos AA, Freudenheim JL, Shields PG (2015) Associations of erythrocyte omega-3 fatty acids with biomarkers of omega-3 fatty acids and inflammation in breast tissue. Int J Cancer. doi:10.1002/ijc.29675

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ruano G, Windemuth A, Kocherla M, Holford T, Fernandez ML, Forsythe CE, Wood RJ, Kraemer WJ, Volek JS (2006) Physiogenomic analysis of weight loss induced by dietary carbohydrate restriction. Nutr Metab (Lond) 3:20. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-3-20

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sacchi R, Paduano A, Savarese M, Vitaglione P, Fogliano V (2014) Extra virgin olive oil: from composition to molecular gastronomy. Cancer Treat Res 159:325–338. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38007-5_19

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt M, Pfetzer N, Schwab M, Strauss I, Kammerer U (2011) Effects of a ketogenic diet on the quality of life in 16 patients with advanced cancer: A pilot trial. Nutr Metab (Lond) 8(1):54. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-8-54

    CrossRef  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sehdev A, O’Neil BH (2015) The role of aspirin, vitamin d, exercise, diet, statins, and metformin in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer. Curr Treat Options Oncol 16(9):359. doi:10.1007/s11864-015-0359-z

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Selter JH, Turner Z, Doerrer SC, Kossoff EH (2015) Dietary and medication adjustments to improve seizure control in patients treated with the ketogenic diet. J Child Neurol 30(1):53–57. doi:10.1177/0883073814535498

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfried TN, Flores R, Poff AM, D’Agostino DP, Mukherjee P (2014) Metabolic therapy: A new paradigm for managing malignant brain cancer. Cancer Lett. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2014.07.015

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sijben JW, Calder PC (2007) Differential immunomodulation with long-chain n-3 PUFA in health and chronic disease. Proc Nutr Soc 66(2):237–259. doi:10.1017/s0029665107005472

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stafford P, Abdelwahab MG, Kim DY, Preul MC, Rho JM, Scheck AC (2010) The ketogenic diet reverses gene expression patterns and reduces reactive oxygen species levels when used as an adjuvant therapy for glioma. Nutr Metab (Lond) 7:74. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-7-74

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Thiem S, Pierce TP, Palmieri M, Putoczki TL, Buchert M, Preaudet A, Farid RO, Love C, Catimel B, Lei Z, Rozen S, Gopalakrishnan V, Schaper F, Hallek M, Boussioutas A, Tan P, Jarnicki A, Ernst M (2013) mTORC1 inhibition restricts inflammation-associated gastrointestinal tumorigenesis in mice. J Clin Invest. doi:10.1172/jci65086

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Thies F, Miles EA, Nebe-von-Caron G, Powell JR, Hurst TL, Newsholme EA, Calder PC (2001) Influence of dietary supplementation with long-chain n-3 or n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids on blood inflammatory cell populations and functions and on plasma soluble adhesion molecules in healthy adults. Lipids 36(11):1183–1193

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tisdale MJ, Brennan RA, Fearon KC (1987) Reduction of weight loss and tumour size in a cachexia model by a high fat diet. Br J Cancer 56(1):39–43

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Varshneya K, Carico C, Ortega A, Patil CG (2015) The efficacy of ketogenic diet and associated hypoglycemia as an adjuvant therapy for high-grade gliomas: a review of the literature. Cureus 7(2):251. doi:10.7759/cureus.251

    Google Scholar 

  • Veech RL (2004) The therapeutic implications of ketone bodies: the effects of ketone bodies in pathological conditions: ketosis, ketogenic diet, redox states, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial metabolism. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 70(3):309–319. doi:10.1016/j.plefa.2003.09.007

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wen H, Miao EA, Ting JP (2013) Mechanisms of NOD-like receptor-associated inflammasome activation. Immunity 39(3):432–441. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2013.08.037

    CrossRef  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westman EC, Volek JS, Feinman RD (2006) Carbohydrate restriction is effective in improving atherogenic dyslipidemia even in the absence of weight loss. Am J Clin Nutr 84 (6):1549; author reply 1550

    Google Scholar 

  • Westman EC, Yancy WS Jr, Mavropoulos JC, Marquart M, McDuffie JR (2008) The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nutr Metab (Lond) 5:36. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-5-36

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Winters-Stone K (2015) Exercise and cancer risk-how much is enough? JAMA Oncol. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2267

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yancy WS Jr, Olsen MK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC (2004) A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med 140(10):769–777

    CrossRef  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Youm YH, Nguyen KY, Grant RW, Goldberg EL, Bodogai M, Kim D, D’Agostino D, Planavsky N, Lupfer C, Kanneganti TD, Kang S, Horvath TL, Fahmy TM, Crawford PA, Biragyn A, Alnemri E, Dixit VD (2015) The ketone metabolite beta-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease. Nat Med. doi:10.1038/nm.3804

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Z, Lange DJ, Voustianiouk A, MacGrogan D, Ho L, Suh J, Humala N, Thiyagarajan M, Wang J, Pasinetti GM (2006) A ketogenic diet as a potential novel therapeutic intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. BMC Neurosci 7:29. doi:10.1186/1471-2202-7-29

    CrossRef  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zuccoli G, Marcello N, Pisanello A, Servadei F, Vaccaro S, Mukherjee P, Seyfried TN (2010) Metabolic management of glioblastoma multiforme using standard therapy together with a restricted ketogenic diet: Case Report. Nutr Metab (Lond) 7:33. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-7-33

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Christopher Smyl

Authors
  1. Christopher Smyl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher Smyl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. RWTH University Hospital, Molecular Tumor Biology, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 , Aachen, Germany

    Thorsten Cramer

  2. Dept. of Hematology and Oncology, Charité, Berlin, Germany

    Clemens A. Schmitt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Smyl, C. (2016). Ketogenic Diet and Cancer—a Perspective. In: Cramer, T., A. Schmitt, C. (eds) Metabolism in Cancer. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 207. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42118-6_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42118-6_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42116-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42118-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)