Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec 10;3(3):e1117701.
doi: 10.1080/23723556.2015.1117701. eCollection 2016 May.

Fasting-induced differential stress sensitization in cancer treatment

S Di Biase  1 , V D Longo  2
Affiliations

Fasting-induced differential stress sensitization in cancer treatment

S Di Biase et al. Mol Cell Oncol. .

Abstract

Most tumors are generated and evolve under high-nutrient conditions, yet therapy does not include dietary changes generating a hostile environment for cancer cells. Because fasting promotes the most drastic change in the levels of plasma macro- and micro-nutrients, and consequently in glucose and growth factors, it has the potential to maximize cancer cell sensitization.

Keywords: Differential Stress Sensitization (DSS); Fasting; Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD); REV1; p53.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematics of key factors modulated by nutrients. The effect of fasting on a broad range of key factors involved in cell metabolism and protection (contained in the blue area) results in cancer cell death. In contrast, the inhibition of single factors by pharmaceutical intervention (e.g., kinase inhibitors) often results in metabolic rearrangements and compensatory mechanisms that allow cancer cells to survive and grow. Drugs used for cancer treatment (indicated in bold) and their effects on each factor (marked in green) are shown. The combination of fasting with chemotherapy or targeted inhibitors gives the best outcome for cancer cell targeted killing (differential stress sensitization or DSS).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cheng CW, Adams GB, Perin L, Wei M, Zhou X, Lam BS, Da Sacco S, Mirisola M, Quinn DI, Dorff TB, et al.. Prolonged fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic-stem-cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression. Cell stem cell 2014; 14:810-23; PMID:24905167; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2014.04.014 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Raffaghello L, Safdie F, Bianchi G, Dorff T, Fontana L, Longo VD. Fasting and differential chemotherapy protection in patients. Cell Cycle 2010; 9:4474-6; PMID:21088487; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/cc.9.22.13954 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee C, Raffaghello L, Brandhorst S, Safdie FM, Bianchi G, Martin-Montalvo A, Pistoia V, Wei M, Hwang S, Merlino A, et al.. Fasting cycles retard growth of tumors and sensitize a range of cancer cell types to chemotherapy. Science Translational Medicine 2012; 4:124ra27; PMID:22323820; http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3003293 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang S, Tsun ZY, Wolfson RL, Shen K, Wyant GA, Plovanich ME, Yuan ED, Jones TD, Chantranupong L, Comb W, et al.. Metabolism. Lysosomal amino acid transporter SLC38A9 signals arginine sufficiency to mTORC1. Science 2015; 347:188-94; PMID:25567906; http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1257132 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Efeyan A, Comb WC, Sabatini DM. Nutrient-sensing mechanisms and pathways. Nature 2015; 517:302-10; PMID:25592535; http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14190 - DOI - PMC - PubMed