QF entity research highlights benefits of a fasting-mimicking diet as safe way to boost immune system
Researchers from Sidra Medicine, an entity of Qatar Foundation, and Fondazione IRCCS, Istituto Nazionale Tumori (INT), Milan, Italy, have published a study highlighting the benefits of a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) in helping boost the immune system in cancer patients.
The in-depth analysis of peripheral blood and cancer specimens assessed the biological effects of a fasting-mimicking diet in patients enrolled in clinical trials including the first-in-human trial. FMD is an approach to fasting that “tricks” the body into thinking it is fasting while allowing minimal food intake The findings showed that cyclic FMD was not only safe but was also well tolerated and can cause remarkable systemic metabolic and immunological changes in patients with different tumor types. The patients were either undergoing FMD alone or in addition to anti-tumor therapies.
Participants were given a plant-derived, low-carbohydrate, low-protein diet, amounting to 1,800 kilocalories over five days. The short course of this fasting-mimicking diet resulted in a consistent decrease in blood glucose and growth factor concentration, mirroring the metabolic changes observed in pre-clinical trials.
Dr. Davide Bedognetti, Director of Human Immunology and Cancer Program at Sidra Medicine and co-senior author of the study, who performed and supervised the immunogenomic analyses of the samples said: “What was remarkable is that after only five days of following a FMD, and without any chemotherapy or immunotherapy, we could see dramatic changes in the gene expression profile of the tumor. The tumors became inflamed and infiltrated by specific immune cells (T lymphocytes) that exhibit tumor-killing capacities.”
“We anticipate that FMDs can become part of the treatment regimen for cancer patients, once randomized clinical trials will confirm its efficacy in combination with standard treatment. We also believe that this methodology would be widely accepted in this part of the world, considering the importance of fasting by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan,” continued Dr. Bedognetti.
Published in Cancer Discovery, the flagship journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, the study titled Fasting-Mimicking Diet Is Safe and Reshapes Antitumor Immunity in Patients with Cancer offers clinicians an opportunity to implement new therapeutic approaches to patient treatment.
Dr. Khalid Fakhro, Chief Research Officer at Sidra Medicine said: "In this part of the world, we are very familiar with the myriad benefits of fasting on human health. This world-class study demonstrates yet another remarkable effect as it relates to patients suffering from cancer, where a fasting-like diet was actually shown to impact the immune system on a molecular level, effectively enhancing the body’s natural response to tumors. We are proud of such discoveries made by scientists at Sidra Medicine in supporting global collaborative efforts to develop strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer– a disease that kills over 10 million people every year.”
Sidra Medicine is also looking into conducting a feasibility assessment of FMD studies in pediatric patients at the hospital. The findings will also lay the foundations for phase II/III clinical trials to investigate FMD anti-tumor efficacy combined with standard antineoplastic (anticancer) treatments.
Other team members of the study included Dr. Darawan Rinchai, Staff Scientist from Sidra Medicine; Dr. Claudio Vernieri (first author); Dr. Licia Rivoltini and Prof. Filippo de Braud as co-senior authors from Fondazione IRCCS, Istituto Nazionale Tumori (INT).