A new study suggests that taking ketone supplements may help inhibit cancer growth and extend survival of cancer patients.
Cancer cells follow a metabolic route that differs from the normal metabolic pathway. In cancer cells, mitochondria produce energy by metabolizing glucose into lactic acid. Cancer cells do not use ketones for energy.
High fat low carb ketogenic diet has been tested as a cancer therapy. Authors of the current study tested ketone supplements and found they can result in a favorable condition called ketosis just as high fat low carb ketogenic diet.
In previous studies, the authors found ketone supplements inhibit proliferation and viability of in vitro cancer cells and slow tumor growth and prolong survival in an animal with metastatic cancer.
In the current study, the authors fed healthy rats a line of ketone supplements for one to four months with glucose intake uncontrolled and found this supplementation increased level of ketones in the blood to a therapeutic level and decreased glucose levels by 20%.
Ketone supplements chanced a number of metabolic parameters indicating that the supplementation regimen can protect against cancer. The changed parameters include oxidized glutathione and antioxidant capacity (carnosine and anserine).
Carnosine found four times higher in rats supplemented with ketones is known to inhibit anaerobic glycolysis (a low energy producing pathway), slows tumor growth and metastasis and extends survival in cancer models.
The ketone supplements also decreased a few lysophospholipids, which found higher in the blood of cancer patients, can induce tumorigenesis and metastasis in animals.
Decreased were also many pro-inflammatory biomarkers including L-1β, IL-6, IFN-γ, MCP-1, and RANTES.
This study was short-term during which no obvious signs of severe effects were observed. This indicates that ketone supplements seem to be safe and may be used as an adjuvant therapy to treat cancer.
Ketogenic diet was thought to be useful in treating brain cancer because brain cells can only use glucose. But studies conducted thus far have not provided a solid conclusion about the therapeutic effect of such a diet against brain tumor even though theoretically, ketogenic diet and ketone supplements can help treat cancer. (David Liu)
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