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Open Access 01-12-2018 | Debate

To fast, or not to fast before chemotherapy, that is the question

Authors: Riccardo Caccialanza, Emanuele Cereda, Francesco De Lorenzo, Gabriella Farina, Paolo Pedrazzoli, on behalf of the AIOM-SINPE-FAVO Working Group

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2018

Abstract

Fasting in disease prevention and treatment has recently become a popular topic, particularly in the context of oncology. Unfortunately, the growing attention paid by the media has created a background of speculations and ambiguous messages.

The attitude towards the role of fasting in cancer patients should be very cautious, as the risk of malnutrition/sarcopenia and disinformation may be associated with this approach.

Whether the results obtained by fasting in the cellular and animal models can be transferred to cancer patients is still to be ascertained. At the moment, more preclinical studies are required to determine in which cancers, at which stage, and in what combinations fasting, fasting-mimicking diets or caloric restriction mimetics may prove effective.

So, despite the “rumors” of marketing and media, nowadays fasting and calorie restriction around CT represent only a promising intuition, which requires proper efforts and time to be validated by evidence-based clinical data.

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Title: To fast, or not to fast before chemotherapy, that is the question
Authors: Riccardo Caccialanza
Emanuele Cereda
Francesco De Lorenzo
Gabriella Farina
Paolo Pedrazzoli
on behalf of the AIOM-SINPE-FAVO Working Group
Publication date: 01-12-2018
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-4245-5

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