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
Review
. 2024 Oct 14;16(20):3481.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16203481.

Dietary Rhythms and MASLD-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Nadia Malakmahmoudi  1 , Roberta Pisu  1 , Ezio Laconi  1 , Fabio Marongiu  1
Affiliations
Review

Dietary Rhythms and MASLD-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Nadia Malakmahmoudi et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Dietary rhythms have emerged as a relevant variable in the equation relating nutrition and health. Both experimental and epidemiological studies point to potential beneficial effects of adequate fasting intervals between meals on the evolution of chronic diseases associated with aging. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is eminently related to diet and unsurprisingly, diet-based approaches are a mainstay in countering its long-term clinical evolution, including the emergence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We briefly discuss current evidence linking fasting intervals, MASLD, and HCC and propose a working hypothesis to reconcile some of the apparently conflicting results. This hypothesis relates the beneficial effects of time-restricted eating schedules to the quantity and quality of food, and it is easily amenable to testing.

Keywords: HCC; MASLD; fasting; steatosis; time-restricted feeding/eating.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of pathogenetic pathways proposed for MASLD-related hepatocarcinogenesis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hypothesis proposing a non-linear relationship between quality/quantity of diet and the effect of time-restricted feeding/eating.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rumgay H., Arnold M., Ferlay J., Lesi O., Cabasag C.J., Vignat J., Laversanne M., McGlynn K.A., Soerjomataram I. Global Burden of Primary Liver Cancer in 2020 and Predictions to 2040. J. Hepatol. 2022;77:1598–1606. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.08.021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Valery P.C., Laversanne M., Clark P.J., Petrick J.L., McGlynn K.A., Bray F. Projections of Primary Liver Cancer to 2030 in 30 Countries Worldwide. Hepatology. 2018;67:600–611. doi: 10.1002/hep.29498. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McGlynn K.A., London W.T. The Global Epidemiology of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Present and Future. Clin. Liver Dis. 2011;15:223–243, vii–x. doi: 10.1016/j.cld.2011.03.006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hashimoto E., Yatsuji S., Tobari M., Taniai M., Torii N., Tokushige K., Shiratori K. Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis. J. Gastroenterol. 2009;44((Suppl. 19)):89–95. doi: 10.1007/s00535-008-2262-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kim N.G., Nguyen P.P., Dang H., Kumari R., Garcia G., Esquivel C.O., Nguyen M.H. Temporal Trends in Disease Presentation and Survival of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Real-World Experience from 1998 to 2015. Cancer. 2018;124:2588–2598. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31373. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources