Study on mice shows fasting weakens cancer

Early research on mice with cancer shows that fasting may weaken tumors and help chemotherapy work better, scientists said on Wednesday.

While it remains unknown if the same approach could work in humans, or if it would even be safe, researchers said the findings suggest a promising new route of study for improving response to cancer treatment.

In the mice experiments, "the combination of fasting cycles plus chemotherapy was either more or much more effective than chemo alone," said senior author Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California (USC).

Longo and colleagues previously published findings in 2008 that showed how fasting protected normal cells against chemotherapy in a study that focused on one type of cancer and a single chemo drug.

The latest study expands on that research to show that fasting makes cancer cells more vulnerable, and spanned several different types of cancer in mice.

Types of cancers studied included breast cancer, melanoma, glioma and human neuroblastoma.

All cancers studied showed that fasting combined with chemotherapy improved survival, slowed the growth of tumors and/or limited their spread.

The study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"We don't know whether in humans it's effective," Longo said, adding that for now fasting should be "off-limits" to cancer patients, although they should feel they can ask their doctors about the possibility.

In 2010, a small study of 10 human cancer patients who tried fasting cycles with their drug treatment showed that they perceived fewer side effects from chemo, according to self-reported data. The study was published in the journal Aging.

The results of a phase 1 trial assessing the safety of fasting two days before and one day after chemotherapy in patients with breast, urinary tract and ovarian cancer, conducted at the USC, have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cancer Oncologists later this year.

"A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting that only normal cells can quickly respond to," Longo said.

ksh/rl

View the original article here

Study on mice shows fasting weakens cancer

Early research on mice with cancer shows that fasting may weaken tumors and help chemotherapy work better, scientists said on Wednesday.

While it remains unknown if the same approach could work in humans, or if it would even be safe, researchers said the findings suggest a promising new route of study for improving response to cancer treatment.

In the mice experiments, "the combination of fasting cycles plus chemotherapy was either more or much more effective than chemo alone," said senior author Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California (USC).

Longo and colleagues previously published findings in 2008 that showed how fasting protected normal cells against chemotherapy in a study that focused on one type of cancer and a single chemo drug.

The latest study expands on that research to show that fasting makes cancer cells more vulnerable, and spanned several different types of cancer in mice.

Types of cancers studied included breast cancer, melanoma, glioma and human neuroblastoma.

All cancers studied showed that fasting combined with chemotherapy improved survival, slowed the growth of tumors and/or limited their spread.

The study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"We don't know whether in humans it's effective," Longo said, adding that for now fasting should be "off-limits" to cancer patients, although they should feel they can ask their doctors about the possibility.

In 2010, a small study of 10 human cancer patients who tried fasting cycles with their drug treatment showed that they perceived fewer side effects from chemo, according to self-reported data. The study was published in the journal Aging.

The results of a phase 1 trial assessing the safety of fasting two days before and one day after chemotherapy in patients with breast, urinary tract and ovarian cancer, conducted at the USC, have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cancer Oncologists later this year.

"A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting that only normal cells can quickly respond to," Longo said.

ksh/rl

View the original article here

Study on mice shows fasting weakens cancer

Early research on mice with cancer shows that fasting may weaken tumors and help chemotherapy work better, scientists said on Wednesday.

While it remains unknown if the same approach could work in humans, or if it would even be safe, researchers said the findings suggest a promising new route of study for improving response to cancer treatment.

In the mice experiments, "the combination of fasting cycles plus chemotherapy was either more or much more effective than chemo alone," said senior author Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California (USC).

Longo and colleagues previously published findings in 2008 that showed how fasting protected normal cells against chemotherapy in a study that focused on one type of cancer and a single chemo drug.

The latest study expands on that research to show that fasting makes cancer cells more vulnerable, and spanned several different types of cancer in mice.

Types of cancers studied included breast cancer, melanoma, glioma and human neuroblastoma.

All cancers studied showed that fasting combined with chemotherapy improved survival, slowed the growth of tumors and/or limited their spread.

The study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"We don't know whether in humans it's effective," Longo said, adding that for now fasting should be "off-limits" to cancer patients, although they should feel they can ask their doctors about the possibility.

In 2010, a small study of 10 human cancer patients who tried fasting cycles with their drug treatment showed that they perceived fewer side effects from chemo, according to self-reported data. The study was published in the journal Aging.

The results of a phase 1 trial assessing the safety of fasting two days before and one day after chemotherapy in patients with breast, urinary tract and ovarian cancer, conducted at the USC, have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cancer Oncologists later this year.

"A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting that only normal cells can quickly respond to," Longo said.

View the original article here

Anti-cancer drug for women weakens bone density

A drug tipped for widespread use to prevent breast cancer in post-menopausal women also accelerates loss of bone density, thus potentially boosting the risk of fractures, a study published on Tuesday said.

Exemestane -- brand name Aromasin -- is part of a drug class called aromatase inhibitors, which lower levels of the oestrogen that some breast cancers need in order to grow.

Canadian bone specialists took a look at a group of patients who had taken part in a study into the effectiveness of exemestane among 4,500 healthy women with a worrying family history of breast cancer.

Overall, the big study showed that the drug was highly effective, reducing the risk of breast cancer by almost two-thirds.

The bone sub-study looked at 351 women who had been taking either exemestane or a dummy lookalike pill and whose bone density was measured with hi-tech scanners.

After two years, women taking exemestane had a high loss of bone density at a common fracture point in the wrist called the distal radius, and also at the lower end of the tibia, compared with their counterparts on placebo.

The exemestane users also had an eight-percent decline in the thickness of cortical bone, which comprises the protective outer shell of the bones.

That finding in particular is worrying because nearly four out of every five fractures in old age occur in cortical bone. These accidents are a huge source of disability.

"Women considering exemestane for the primary prevention of breast cancer should weigh their individual risks and benefits," says the study, headed by Angela Cheung of the University Health Network in Toronto.

"For women taking exemestane, regular bone monitoring plus adequate calcium and vitamin D supplementation are important."

The paper is published online by the journal The Lancet Oncology.

View the original article here

Anti-cancer drug for women weakens bone density

A drug tipped for widespread use to prevent breast cancer in post-menopausal women also accelerates loss of bone density, thus potentially boosting the risk of fractures, a study published on Tuesday said.

Exemestane -- brand name Aromasin -- is part of a drug class called aromatase inhibitors, which lower levels of the oestrogen that some breast cancers need in order to grow.

Canadian bone specialists took a look at a group of patients who had taken part in a study into the effectiveness of exemestane among 4,500 healthy women with a worrying family history of breast cancer.

Overall, the big study showed that the drug was highly effective, reducing the risk of breast cancer by almost two-thirds.

The bone sub-study looked at 351 women who had been taking either exemestane or a dummy lookalike pill and whose bone density was measured with hi-tech scanners.

After two years, women taking exemestane had a high loss of bone density at a common fracture point in the wrist called the distal radius, and also at the lower end of the tibia, compared with their counterparts on placebo.

The exemestane users also had an eight-percent decline in the thickness of cortical bone, which comprises the protective outer shell of the bones.

That finding in particular is worrying because nearly four out of every five fractures in old age occur in cortical bone. These accidents are a huge source of disability.

"Women considering exemestane for the primary prevention of breast cancer should weigh their individual risks and benefits," says the study, headed by Angela Cheung of the University Health Network in Toronto.

"For women taking exemestane, regular bone monitoring plus adequate calcium and vitamin D supplementation are important."

The paper is published online by the journal The Lancet Oncology.

View the original article here