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Ketogenic diet against cancer: expert warns for lack of evidence

Ketogenic diet against cancer: expert warns for lack of evidence

Since when it started its treatment against pancreatic cancer, the journalist Marcelo Rezende - who died last Saturday (16) due to multiple organ failure - opted to follow an alternative therapy based on the ketogenic diet. The journalist's decision raised the question: Is the use of alternative methods as a treatment for cancer really beneficial? What type of cancer could be treated that way?

It is difficult to find an answer to these questions. Firstly because there are more than 200 different types of cancer and the neoplasia can develop in any organ of the body and from almost any type of cell in the body. This causes each tumor to have its own genetic and biomolecular signature, responding to treatments in different ways.

Journalist Marcelo Rezende has been facing pancreatic adenocarcinoma since May of this year. According to the clinical oncologist Renata Cangussu, from the Nucleus of Oncology of Bahia (NOB), Oncoclínicas Group, this tumor is a type of neoplasia of extremely aggressive behavior.

The pancreas is a gland of the digestive system, located in the upper part of the abdomen and behind the stomach. It is responsible for the production of enzymes, which act in the digestion of food, and for the insulin - hormone responsible for the decrease of the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. It is divided into three parts: the head (right side), the body (middle section) and the tail (left side). Most cases of pancreatic cancer are located in the region of the head of the organ.

In general, cases of the disease are diagnosed at an advanced stage and, therefore, are treated for palliative purposes. In the case of journalist Marcelo Rezende, when the tumor was diagnosed it had already irradiated to the liver, that is, it already metastasized to another organ. According to the oncologist Renata, when this neoplasm radiates, that is, metastasis occurs, the evolution is even more severe.

The specialist affirms that the most effective treatment to be adopted for these cases is chemotherapy, which consists of the combination of different drugs in order to prevent tumor growth. Chemotherapy acts on the cell cycle, destroying and preventing the multiplication of cells, a reaction that happens in an accelerated way in tumor tissues. Side effects may include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, mucositis (inflammation of mucous membranes), fatigue, thrombocytopenia (platelet collapse). ) and febrile neutropenia (decreased immunity associated with fever). "There are many more recent strategies that can reduce the side effects induced by chemotherapy, making the treatment tolerable," Renata said.

Use of the ketogenic diet in cancer treatment

At the time cancer was diagnosed in the pancreas journalist Marcelo Rezende even had a chemotherapy session. But shortly thereafter he announced that he would abandon conventional treatment to follow the ketogenic diet.

The ketogenic diet is usually composed of 10 to 15% of carbohydrates, 50% of fats and 30% of fats. proteins. Simple, easily absorbed carbohydrates, which include white rice, white bread, pasta and sugar, are prohibited.

The method has been well studied as adjunctive treatment in the management of seizures in children with epilepsy. By 1990, it began to be more studied with the focus on patients with cancer, explains Renata."Simple carbohydrates and sugars can serve as 'food' for cancer cells, so the use of the ketogenic diet, by drastically reducing carbohydrate consumption, could interfere with the cellular inflammatory process. tumor growth, "explains Renata.

No evidence that the ketogenic diet works against cancer

However, studies that prove that the ketogenic diet works against cancer in humans are still very restricted. "Most of them were studies in patients with tumors of the central nervous system and only descriptions of case reports," says Renata.

To confirm this hypothesis, it is necessary to conduct a large study comparing a population that made the diet

"Even if the anti-cancer potential of this strategy is confirmed, it should be incorporated as a co-adjuvant to the strategy. standard treatment, never replacing it, "says the specialist.

Furthermore, as explained earlier, cancer is a disease with many variables. Thus, Renata believes that hardly any type of food, vitamin or specific diet would be able to cure the patient.

Risks of abandoning treatment

The oncologist at the Paulista Center for Oncology is saying that the therapy proposed by is based on scientific evidence. "Some treatments, even with side effects, are still capable of delivering a better quality of life to the patient than not having any treatment at all," a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that patients who made the choice of abandoning conventional treatment to undergo an alternative treatment had a twofold greater risk of death.

Chemotherapy for advanced cancer is intended to control symptoms of the disease, increase the survival time and the well-being of the patient. patient. Failure to do the indicated treatment may directly impact these factors.

It is important to say that the patient has the right to choose other forms of treatment and must be respected in his decision, but it is the physician's role to try to offer what is scientifically tested so that he has a more comfortable life in the face of the disease.

Alternative therapies x integrative therapies

Getting cancer treatment is not easy.

Integrative treatment aims to incorporate complementary techniques to the traditional model, seeking to minimize the toxicity of the therapy and improve the quality of life of the patient in cancer treatment. This concept of integration of treatments has the potential to benefit cancer patients.

Integrative practices are beneficial and often indicated by oncologists. So much so that in the Unified Health System (SUS) there is the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PNPIC), in which it is possible to perform treatment such as art therapy, meditation, music therapy, naturopathic treatment, osteopathic treatment, chiropractic treatment and reiki. The SUS initiative started in 2006 and brought to the public network comprehensive care approaches to the population through therapeutic resources, among them phytotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, anthroposophic medicine and thermalism.


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