A specific therapeutic diet can help in the complementary treatment of colon cancer. Research conducted at the University of Michigan’s Rogel Cancer Center proves that a diet with a minimal amount of protein can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy by making cancer cells more vulnerable. The study has been published in the journal Gastroenterology.

According to the researchers, the very low-protein diet blocks the signaling pathways that cancer uses to feed. Cancer cells need nutrients to survive and grow. One of the most important nutrient-sensing molecules in a cancer cell is called mTORC1, often called the “master regulator of cell growth.” This cell allows cells to detect different nutrients and thus grow and proliferate. When nutrients are limited, cells reduce the nutrient detection cascade and “turn off” mTORC1.

WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE DIET FOR COLON CANCER?

mTORC1 is known to be overactive in colon cancer, but the key question was whether colon tumors hijack nutrient-sensing pathways to activate the master regulator. However, the study has found that “in colon cancer, when the available nutrients are reduced, the cells do not know what to do. Without the nutrients to grow, they go through a kind of crisis that leads to massive cell death,” explains lead author Yatrik. M. Shah, professor of physiology at Michigan Medical School.

The regulator, mTORC1, controls how cells use nutritional signals to grow and multiply. It is very active in cancers with certain mutations and is known to help the cancer become resistant to standard treatments. A low-protein diet, and specifically a reduction of two key amino acids, is able to modify nutritional signals through a complex called GATOR.

GATOR1 and GATOR2 work together to keep mTORC1 active. When a cell has many nutrients, GATOR2 activates mTORC1. When nutrients are low, GATOR1 deactivates mTORC1. The scientific finding is that limiting the intake of certain amino acids can specifically block this nutrient signaling pathway.

Previous efforts to block MT ORC had focused on inhibiting cancer-causing signals. But the inhibitors used caused significant side effects, and when patients stopped taking them, the cancer returned. The study suggests that blocking the nutrient pathway by limiting amino acids through a low-protein diet offers an alternative and much safer way to block the MT ORC pathway.

“We knew nutrients were important in regulating MT ORC, but we didn’t know how they send signals directly to MT ORC. We found that the nutrient signaling pathway is as important for regulating MT ORC as the oncogenic signaling pathway,” said study first author Sumeet Solanki, Ph.D., a researcher at Rogel Cancer Center.

DIET INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION THERAPY

The researchers confirmed their findings in cells and mice, where they saw that limiting amino acids stopped cancer growth and led to increased cell death. They also looked at tissue biopsies from colon cancer patients, where high markers of MT ORC were confirmed to correlate with increased resistance to chemotherapy.

“A low-protein diet will not be a standalone treatment, but it can be combined with chemotherapy,” Solanki said. But putting cancer patients on a long-term protein-deficient diet isn’t ideal, because they often experience muscle weakness and weight loss. But if key windows can be found, such as at the start of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, in which patients could follow a low-protein diet for a week or two, it could potentially increase the effectiveness of treatments.

Future research will delve into which therapeutic windows it is most effective to limit amino acids. The researchers will also seek to understand how these pathways create resistance to treatment and whether an inhibitor could block GATOR complexes.

The post A Very Low Protein Diet May Help in the Treatment of Colon Cancer appeared first on FreeLifeHealth.