How diet impacts cancer

How cancer cells use nutrients to support their growth and proliferation is determined by many factors, including interaction with the external environment and diet. To date, some key nutrients for tumor metabolism are known, such as glucose and glutamine, through which tumourigenesis is supported, but one of the most difficult objectives is certainly to understand what are the interactions between a given type of tumor and the macro and tumor microenvironment, in order to discover tumor vulnerabilities.

Many epidemiological studies have indicated obesity and excess calories as risk factors for the development of cancer, while diets with a lower intake of carbohydrates, fats and, as a consequence, calories are associated with a lower risk to develop a tumor.

Diet can affect tumor growth and progression through various mechanisms; Dietary variations cause variations in micronutrients at the plasma level, with consequent change in the tumor microenvironment, as well as determining an enhancement of drug therapy.
Different diets can inhibit or accelerate tumourigenesis; Low-carb diet, as well as calorie restriction or ketogenic diet tend to inhibit and/or slow tumor growth in many types of cancer. Calorie restriction, or a decrease of about 30-40% of total calories, usually through carbohydrate restriction, has been shown to greatly slow the growth of numerous cancers, including breast, lung, prostate, and brain cancers. , pancreas and colorectal. On the contrary, a high fat diet (HFD), which is very different from a ketogenic diet, increases tumor growth, especially in colorectal, pancreatic, prostate, breast and hepatocellular carcinoma, also increasing the metastasis formation.

Although calorie restriction induces a slowdown in tumor growth, not all tumors always respond in the same way to this type of diet. The variability of response depends on some factors, such as the tumor genotype, the tissue of origin or the location of the tumor.

Although the scientific literature has not highlighted specific dietary protocols in certain tumor conditions, diet remains an important support for therapies.