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An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

nytimes.com

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Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#3
A family member of mine was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and told to get her affairs in order. She went on a strict no sugar diet. 5 years later, she has no sign of cancer.

Of course, she also had standard surgery and chemo. But I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the no sugar diet slowed the cancer down enough for the chemo/surgery to be more effective.

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#4
This is probably why cannabinoids are likely to have a synergistic effect in treating some (but not all) cancers when used in concert with immunotherapies and chemotherapies... The cannabinoid receptors connect into the akt system and modulate cell energy use. In vitro, some cancer cell lines are eradicated by cannabinoids, probably in vivo it's more complicated but weakening the cells probably helps.

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#6

A family member of mine was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and told to get her affairs in order. She went on a strict no sugar diet. 5 years later, she has no sign of cancer. Of course, she also had standard surgery and chemo. But I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the no sugar diet slowed the cancer down enough for the chemo/surgery to be more effective.

did she go on a strict no sugar diet specifically as a supplementary treatment to the metastatic cancer? and if so, what guidance was she following?

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#7

So would a ketogenic diet be effective then?

There are people who advocate that. The following video discusses some results in the area (link is to 41:05, where they show some rodent models). https://youtu.be/gONeCxtyH18?t=41m5s

Of note is that that is in addition to (not instead of) standard care.

It's also interesting to see many people taking Metformin (which inhibits glucose production in the liver) preventatively.

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#8
This is one of the best newspaper science articles I've ever read. It's a survey of the landscape, talks to a wide variety of experts, and modulates expectations for some miracle cure while still laying out the possibilities that could come from this approach.

Very good read!

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#9

A family member of mine was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and told to get her affairs in order. She went on a strict no sugar diet. 5 years later, she has no sign of cancer. Of course, she also had standard surgery and chemo. But I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the no sugar diet slowed the cancer down enough for the chemo/surgery to be more effective.

did she go on a strict no sugar diet specifically as a supplementary treatment to the metastatic cancer? and if so, what guidance was she following?

[deleted]

Re: An Old Idea, Revived: Starve Cancer to Death

#10

A family member of mine was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and told to get her affairs in order. She went on a strict no sugar diet. 5 years later, she has no sign of cancer. Of course, she also had standard surgery and chemo. But I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the no sugar diet slowed the cancer down enough for the chemo/surgery to be more effective.

My mother had lung cancer which spread to other parts of her body. Throughout her sickness, she ate very little, then almost nothing as the disease progressed. By the time of her death, she was practically just skin and bones. "Starving the cancer" didn't seem to work in her case. Then again, chemo also seemed to have zero effect. Cancer just spread, more and more, with each passing month.
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