Live data from Hacker News

How cancer cells fuel their growth

news.mit.edu

41–50 of 82 posts

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#41
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Warburg effect is a metabolic pathway involving anaerobic burning of glucose. When cells consume fats instead of sugar it must be aerobically. Burning glucose aerobically is much more efficient than doing so without O2. The belief is that this means that low carb diets should be a good preventative for cancers as they remove the metabolic pathway needed by the cancer cells as there isn't enough glucose for them.…

A med student told me his team found that starving cancer cells wouldn't work because they were better at sipping glucose than normal cells, meaning healthy tissue would suffer first.

Healthy tissue will metabolize ketone bodies instead of glucose, so a ketogenic diet shouldn't be affected by their observation.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#42
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please elaborate / substantiate?

Your immune system is more direct and effective at countering cancer development than any diet, unless you are consuming cancirogens. Cancer development itself is a sign that cancer cells developed at pace great enough to "overpower" your immune system or you have genetic mutation that causes your body develop cancer on its own because its de-facto wired to do so. Once cancer develops, it becomes race with time. It w…

There is enough evidence to suggest diet can play a role in defeating cancer. Some foods contain compounds that can interfere or even induce apoptosis in mutant cells.

Whether they reach these cells from point of entry (mouth) intact is a different matter, some research suggests some compounds can.

There needs to be more research in establishing which foods are able to perform roles in prevention and also fighting.

I would like to think William Li's research is at least a start at making information easily accessible to the wider public from studies and research journals. There are also issues of funding for these types of studies, as they are seen controversial and almost a form of pseudo-science. Not to mention the whole "big pharma" arguments which I don't necessarily subscribe to.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A med student told me his team found that starving cancer cells wouldn't work because they were better at sipping glucose than normal cells, meaning healthy tissue would suffer first.

Healthy tissue will metabolize ketone bodies instead of glucose, so a ketogenic diet shouldn't be affected by their observation.

Obviously, I shouldn't have posted that comment. Thanks.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#44

Dom D’Agostino on various things about Ketosis and Cancer fighting. http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/11/03/dominic-dagostino/ Ted Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fM9o72ykww I'm going to try the Bullet Proof Coffee recipe I think!

Make sure you blend it. If you don't blend it, it will not taste good. No amount of hand stirring will cause the oil and water to mix well.

I use one of these gadgets [1] for this task.

1: http://www.amazon.com/Ikea-Milk-Frother-303-011-67-Black/dp/...

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#45

Very interesting. What does this mean for low carb, high protein diets heavily promoted these days (Keto)? Reminds me of this talk on TED - William Li, Anti-Angiogenesis therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjkzfeJz66o Does this research mean these diets and therapies are less effective than previously thought?

A ketogenic diet can't be high protein. A ketogenic diet is one where the body enters nutritional ketosis, and to do that it has to be somewhere around 60% fat, or more.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#46

Two words. Clinical Trials. Link to real paper is here : http://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/fulltext/S1534-5807%2... ("please login")

Here it is: http://sci-hub.bz/10.1016/j.devcel.2016.02.012

Pay walls are pretty annoying, but quite easy to get around these days due to several community efforts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scholar

https://www.researchgate.net (you can "Request full text" from a researcher)

I'm sure there are others.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#47
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your immune system is more direct and effective at countering cancer development than any diet, unless you are consuming cancirogens. Cancer development itself is a sign that cancer cells developed at pace great enough to "overpower" your immune system or you have genetic mutation that causes your body develop cancer on its own because its de-facto wired to do so. Once cancer develops, it becomes race with time. It w…

There is enough evidence to suggest diet can play a role in defeating cancer. Some foods contain compounds that can interfere or even induce apoptosis in mutant cells. Whether they reach these cells from point of entry (mouth) intact is a different matter, some research suggests some compounds can. There needs to be more research in establishing which foods are able to perform roles in prevention and also fighting. I…

> as they are seen controversial and almost a form of pseudo-science

Yes, the "cure cancer with our special juices combo (and coffe enema just to be sure)" crowd is not doing this field of research any favors in the public.

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#48
post #34

A low carb diet has been proven to inhibit the development of most cancers, because of their huge requirement for glucose. The obvious conclusion from this research is that low carb AND low protein diet is the best option to inhibit cancer. Kind of also supports leading bio hackers such as Dave Asprey creator of Bulletproof coffee. His podcasts are brilliant, they have made a big impression on me - as a result I've s…

This does not explain how people in rural China that eat mostly carbs with very little fat and consume 25% calories more per body mass than westerners have noticeably less rates of most cancers. Only their rate for stomach cancer is significantly elevated compared with Western levels.

What are their exposures to toxins? Are they genetically more or less prone to certain cancers?

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#49

Very interesting. What does this mean for low carb, high protein diets heavily promoted these days (Keto)? Reminds me of this talk on TED - William Li, Anti-Angiogenesis therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjkzfeJz66o Does this research mean these diets and therapies are less effective than previously thought?

The effect is probably small The body is very efficient at turning protein and fat into energy However the issue with proteins/amino-acids is that the body actually needs them and can't convert carbs or fats into them (you actually need some of the amino-acids). Maybe the cure is to limit your protein intake but that poses other problems

Methionine may be a key player: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22342103

Re: How cancer cells fuel their growth

#50
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keto is not low carb, high protein. It's high fat, low carb, moderate protein. On keto you eat the standard recommended amount of protein (depending on your athleticism, it'll be around .69-1.2g per lb of LBM). Most of your calories come from fat. My breakfast this morning was coffee with butter and MCT oil

Aren't you just trading cancer for heart disease though?

I eat high fat, medium protein, low carb, and my sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels have gone from bad to normal. I also exercise regularly. Your mileage may vary.
Post reply on HN