High fat ketogenic diet envisioned as potential life-saving therapy to combat low platelets in cancer patients

[Seasid]

medicalxpress.com/news/2022...

A high-fat diet may combat low platelet counts in the blood caused by chemotherapy, according to preliminary research, which suggests that a ketogenic eating plan may be a nontoxic, low-cost and high-benefit addition to cancer therapy.

Low platelets trigger a condition known as thrombocytopenia. Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia is a severe complication in patients with cancer that can lead to an impaired therapeutic outcome and threaten survival. An estimated 1 in 10 patients receiving chemotherapy develops thrombocytopenia, according to the authors of a new analysis in Science Translational Medicine.

"Therapeutic options for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia are limited by severe adverse effects and high economic burdens," reports Dr. Sisi Xie lead author of the study.

Xie, a researcher in the department of Cellular and Genetic Medicine at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University in Shanghai, underscored that chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia is a major problem facing oncologists and cancer patients worldwide.

"We demonstrate that ketogenic diets alleviate chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia in both animals and humans without causing thrombocytosis," Xie added, referring to a condition that is the exact opposite of thrombocytopenia. In thrombocytosis, the body produces too many platelets.

Platelets are the tiny sticky disc-like cells—part of the blood supply—that clump together to form blood clots. When chemo destroys platelets, the result is thrombocytopenia, which can be dangerous. The condition complicates cancer surgeries by increasing the risk of bleeding, forcing doctors to reduce or discontinue chemotherapy altogether.

Xie and colleagues found that a ketogenic diet can boost the production of ketone bodies in the liver, which in turn, have various biological effects, one of which is combating thrombocytopenia, according to the series of elegant experiments and clinical research conducted by the Shanghai team.

Ketone bodies are alternate energy sources when glucose is not readily available. Ketogenic diets, which emphasize foods high in fats and protein, dramatically lower calories from carbohydrate sources. There are three ketone bodies. The two main ones are acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate; acetone is the third and least abundant.

medicalxpress.com/news/2022...

[JohnInTheMiddle]

Pretty interesting, in part because I follow a keto diet and seem to be in ketosis all the time now. Finished well tolerated Docetaxel chemotherapy a few months ago though. There are other reasons to continue with a keto, at least theoretically, when one is fighting prostate cancer.

[Cooolone]

And how does this corelate and translate to PCa which we know is more Lipid associated than Glucose...? Keto diets aren't long term sustainable either to my knowledge... But I'm not a dietician, so could be wrong, lol.

[Seasid in reply to Cooolone]

I would not do it without a great need. I am on a honeymoon with my cancer now, but this study is interesting as low platelets count is the end of your cancer therapy. Therefore don't use it without a real need.

Even a blood transfusion would not help with low platelets (only 1 day) if it is true? From this site someone said.

[Cooolone in reply to Seasid]

Yes, agreed!

I hope your honeymoon is a loooooong one!

Happy New Year!

[MateoBeach]

Saw that yesterday too. Interesting. I don’t see that they sorted out whether actually being in ketosis vs the presence of the ketone BHB (beta-hydroxyl-butyrate) might be the key factor. Holding to a ketogenic diet can be difficult. But supplementing with BHB salts is easy and inexpensive. Should be explored. I add BHB salts to my whey protein drinks. Also supplies Ca, Mg, K and Na electrolytes. Better than Gatorade, etc! 🤣

[Seasid in reply to MateoBeach]

I just hope that I don't have to think seriously about this for a very long time.