In previous studies, researchers discovered that calorie restriction could extend an animal’s lifespan–though the findings were met with controversy. Now, another study from Thomas Jefferson University reveals that calorie restriction may help in another way: By slowing down breast cancer.
Published in the health journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, senior author Nicole Simone, M.D., says that feeding cancer-stricken mice 30 percent fewer calories caused a slowdown of the spread of cancer to new parts of the body.
It did not stop or reverse the cancer, however.
“The diet turned on a epigenetic program that protected mice from metastatic disease,” says Simone, who works as an associate professor in the department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University. “CR [calorie restriction] can be used as a potential treatment for cancer because it may alter many molecular targets concurrently and decrease metastatic potential for TNBC [triple-negative breast cancer].”
What Researchers Found
It’s a fact: Triple negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.
But now there may be a way to stop it from spreading, according to Simone’s research.
Here’s what she did: Using mice which had triple negative breast cancer, she split them into two groups to see if calorie restriction could either improve or worsen their odds of survival. In previous studies, Simone led research on the effects of calorie restriction on tumors, and found that it improved the odds of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In this study, she wanted to see if calorie restriction also stopped or slowed down breast cancer–and the good news is that it did.
For mice who were given free access to food, their cancer progressed at a predictable rate, worsening their prognosis. But for mice whose food intake was limited by 30 percent, Simone noticed significant reductions in the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. This helped improve their prognosis–and Simone is hopeful these effects will translate to human models just as effectively.
“Calorie restriction promotes epigenetic changes in the breast tissue that keep the extracellular matrix strong,” says Simone. “A strong matrix creates a sort of cage around the tumor, making it more difficult for cancer cells to escape and spread to new sites in the body.”
While scientists propose that designing a drug to target the extracellular matrix in breast tissue could also limit the spread of cancer in the same fashion, developing it would be difficult and unlikely to be as effective as calorie restriction. Therefore, Simone believes that making calorie restriction a part of a woman’s breast cancer treatment plan could help improve their odds of survival–a number that isn’t too high for those suffering from its most aggressive form.
What You Should Do
As Simone’s study shows, calorie restriction isn’t just great for keeping a trim figure–it may also inhibit the spread of cancer as well. Don’t expect this to be a treatment in the near future, however; as of now, Simone is currently enrolling patients to take part in a future study to see if these same cancer-fighting effects can be replicated in humans. Testing for that could take years.
Readers: Do you think calorie restriction is a good idea? Why or why not?
Sources:
Study: Calorie Restriction May Slow Aggressive Form of Breast Cancer – ScienceDaily.com
Calorie Restriction Slows Down Spread of Breast Cancer in Mice – Springer.com
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