We are what we eat.
While both the beneficial and detrimental effects of diet on health are well-documented, from boosting longevity to backfiring and scaring metabolism, certain eating habits can also impact cancer.
Now, new research has discovered that one way of eating in particular could accelerate tumor growth in cancer patients.
Cancer diagnoses are increasing at alarming rates, especially for younger people — and there very well could be a connection between diet and disease.
A study published Tuesday in the journal APL Bioengineering put four diets to the test — high-insulin, high-glucose, high-ketone and high-fat — against triple-negative breast cancer, a kind that’s difficult to treat with standard methods.
After engineering tumor models to respond to the biochemical effects of nutrients from food, the researchers found that a high-fat diet accelerated tumor growth and invasion.
Foods higher in fat also caused an increase in the enzyme MMP1, which degrades cell structure and is associated with a poor disease outcome.
By building identical tumors and recreating a realistic environment, the team was able to isolate specific nutrients and their effects on the structure, growth and spread of cancer cells.
While previous studies have looked at the connection between diet and cancer, they’ve failed to account for how interconnected systems, such as the immune system, metabolism and microbiome, can affect cancer cell behavior.
Earlier studies have also been unable to replicate the flow of nutrients around cells.
However, researchers were able to solve this by using a human plasmalike medium to recreate the microenvironment of cells in the body.
The researchers plan to use the findings from this study in future research for other cancer types.
“We plan to take the same system and define whether tumors respond differently to chemotherapy when cultured in media mimicking the different dietary conditions,” study author Celeste M. Nelson said in a press release.
“This would allow physicians to potentially make recommendations about what a patient should eat if prescribed a specific therapy,” she added.
Although they’re more and more common, high-fat diets have a plethora of drawbacks, including weight gain, physically changing the liver and raising the risk of cancer.
Even just two days of increased high-fat intake can compromise critical immune cells in the gut and weaken the intestinal barrier.
