URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0920121111002063?via%3Dihub
Journal: Epilepsy Research
Publication Date: 07/2012
Summary: Malignant brain cancer persists as a major disease of morbidity and mortality. The failure to recognize brain cancer as a disease of energy metabolism has contributed in large part to the failure in management. As long as brain tumor cells have access to glucose and glutamine, the disease will progress. The current standard of care provides brain tumors with access to glucose and glutamine. The high fat low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) will target glucose availability and possibly that of glutamine when administered in carefully restricted amounts to reduce total caloric intake and circulating levels of glucose. The restricted KD (RKD) targets major signaling pathways associated with glucose and glutamine metabolism including the IGF-1/PI3K/Akt/Hif pathway. The RKD is anti-angiogenic, anti-invasive, anti-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic when evaluated in mice with malignant brain cancer. The therapeutic efficacy of the restricted KD can be enhanced when combined with drugs that also target glucose and glutamine. Therapeutic efficacy of the RKD was also seen against malignant gliomas in human case reports. Hence, the RKD can be an effective non-toxic therapeutic option to the current standard of care for inhibiting the growth and invasive properties of malignant brain cancer.
Key Takeaways
Brain cancers can be thought of as a disease of energy regulation. They utilize glucose and glutamine to survive and grow. This is why standards of care may be outperformed by dietary approaches that stabilize the glucose input to the brain such as the ketogenic diet. Additionally a calorie restricted ketogenic diet may target the utilization of glutamine by the cancer. A calorie restricted ketogenic diet in mice with malignant brain cancer was shown to be anti-inflammatory, reduce invasion of the cancer, reduce access of cancer to nutrients by preventing blood vessel formation, and induce death of the cancer cells.
