Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report
A 2009 case series used here as background and comparison research, describing self-directed fasting by 10 chemotherapy patients. It is not a study of the Fasting Mimicking Diet.
Aging (Albany NY), 2009. Safdie FM, et al.
Funding and competing interests (as published with the paper): The authors of this manuscript have no conflict of interest to declare.
- Study type
- Human case series (not about the FMD)
- Journal
- Aging (Albany NY)
- Published
- 2009
- Authors
- Safdie FM, et al.
- DOI
- 10.18632/aging.100114
- PubMed ID
- 20157582
Summary
This is a case series, not a controlled trial, and not a study of the Fasting Mimicking Diet. Researchers described 10 cancer patients who chose to fast for 48 to 140 hours before and/or 5 to 56 hours after receiving chemotherapy, and reviewed their reported side effects.
The authors reported that the six patients who underwent chemotherapy both with and without fasting described less fatigue, weakness and gastrointestinal side effects while fasting; in patients whose cancer could be assessed, fasting did not appear to prevent the chemotherapy-related reduction in tumor size or markers. The authors state the cases are not meant to establish treatment guidelines.
With only 10 patients, no comparison group and self-directed fasting, this case series cannot show cause and effect. This study does not show that fasting or an FMD treats cancer or reduces chemotherapy side effects; the authors themselves call for randomized trials.
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