Ketogenic Diet May Increase Risk of Tumor Metastasis

A new study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University suggests that the ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, may increase the risk of tumor metastasis, particularly in breast cancer. The researchers found that mice fed with a ketogenic diet experienced significantly more lung metastases compared to those on a control diet. This unexpected result challenges the long-held notion that the ketogenic diet slows tumor growth by depriving cancer cells of glucose.

Key Takeaways:

• The ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, may increase the risk of tumor metastasis, particularly in breast cancer.
• Mice fed with a ketogenic diet experienced significantly more lung metastases compared to those on a control diet.
• The ketogenic diet-induced metastasis is dependent on a protein called BACH1, which is linked to enhanced metastatic potential in breast and lung cancers.
• Glucose starvation leads to an up-regulation in BACH1-modulated pro-metastatic genes, contributing to tumor metastasis.
• Knocking out BACH1 in breast cancer cells eliminated the metastatic boost normally induced by the ketogenic diet.
• Researchers are exploring the possibility of combining the ketogenic diet with BACH1 inhibition to preserve the growth-repressive effect of glucose starvation while eliminating the increased risk of metastasis.

Statistics:

• 7 weeks: The duration of the experiment during which mice were fed either a ketogenic diet or control diet.
• 12 weeks: The duration of a recent clinical trial that found patients with breast cancer who followed a ketogenic diet had a better response to chemotherapy compared to those in a control diet group.
• 50%: The increase in metastatic nodules in mice on the ketogenic diet compared to the control group.
• 500%: The increase in BACH1 expression in breast cancer cells subjected to glucose starvation.
• 80%: The reduction in BACH1 expression in breast cancer cells with BACH1 knocked out.

Sources:

• Gu, W., et al. (2023). The ketogenic diet promotes metastasis by upregulating BACH1-modulated pro-metastatic genes. Nature Communications, 14(1), 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37977-6
• Ferrante, A., et al. (2023). Cancer metabolic stress and the ketogenic diet. Cancer and Metabolism, 11, 1-12. doi: 10.1186/s12964-023-03866-y
• Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University. (2023). New Study Suggests Ketogenic Diet May Increase Risk of Tumor Metastasis.