2023-05-31 15:42:23
Diet influences the incidence, growth and development of cancer, to the point that a third of the most common cancers can be prevented, at least in part, through changes in diet. In fact, preclinical studies using food as a tool against cancer have shown promising results. However, these results have not yet reached the clinic. Now, the Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer group of the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), led by Nabil Djouder, publishes in ‘Trends in Molecular Medicine’ a review on the use of diet in cancer treatment, with Carlos Martínez-Garay as first author. In it they defend the importance of taking into account nutrition in cancer therapies.
“Diets can directly target the cancer metabolismby depriving the tumor of the nutrients it needs, or they may affect other key elements for cancer survival and development, such as growth signaling, oxidative stress, or the patient’s immunity,” explains Djouder.
For the authors, one of the reasons why these nutritional therapies are not yet being applied in cancer patients is that the clinical studies carried out to date have limitations, such as the fact that many of these trials group patients with very heterogeneous tumor profiles. There is also a lack of strict standards for the implementation of diets as treatment.
The present work reviews the possible therapeutic nutritional interventions against cancer, and the steps that remain for them to be considered standard treatment. With this review, the authors hope to contribute to the design of new clinical trials and translational studies in this area. The study focuses on the caloric restrictionthe ketogenic diet and the intermittent fasting, analyzing how they can influence the appearance and development of tumors. After reviewing recent and ongoing preclinical studies and clinical trials of these diets, he offers a new perspective on the physiological rationale behind them.
The authors take an in-depth review of what is known about nutrient metabolism and its relationship to tumor development and progression. The data suggests that the growth of some types of cancer can largely depend on specific amino acidsand that avoiding foods rich in these amino acids could limit tumor growth.
Obesity and microbiome
In addition, many of the pathways related to tumor proliferation are linked to hormones that are sensitive to certain nutrients. This could explain the relationship between obesity and cancer, due precisely to an increase in the signaling of estrogens (hormones) produced by adipose tissue (fat).
Researchers have also reviewed publications linking gut flora to cancer. The intestinal flora or microbiome groups the population of microbes present in the intestinal tract and is one of the main responsible for the interaction between what a person eats and their health.
“Many of the oncogenic effects attributed to the intestinal microbiome -explains Carlos Martínez-Garay- are related to inflammation of the digestive tract and, in fact, the presence of certain populations of bacteria is linked to chronic inflammation associated with cancers Gastrointestinal disorders such as gallbladder, bile duct, and stomach.
Interaction with the immune system
One of the main factors responsible for tumor growth, and for whether the therapy chosen to combat each cancer is successful or not, is the interaction between tumor cells and the patient’s immunity, and in this case there is also a relationship with diet. Most of our immune cells are present in the intestine as a defense barrier against the ingestion of toxic compounds or pathogens.
“Certain components of the diet can cause important responses in the immune system -says Martínez-Garay- and this can cause a dysfunction in our defenses that makes us more vulnerable to tumor formation«.
precision nutrition
The authors point out the need to develop precision nutrition, a novel approach that proposes the use of rtargeted dietary regimens to treat specific tumors based on the metabolism of the tumor and the patient. The current ability to analyze tumors in depth and classify them based on their molecular profile has allowed great progress in the efficacy of therapies to combat them.
“This can also be applied to nutrition if clinical data, microbiome examinations, molecular diagnostics, nutrigenomics and metabolomics are combined to develop specific dietary regimens aimed at treating cancer patients on an individual basis. The preclinical studies and clinical trials that we have reviewed show the potent effects of dietary interventions and this makes us think that a new era in cancer therapy“explains Nabil Djouder.
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