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Division of Medical Oncology Associate Professor, Peter Kabos, MD, is part of a group of researchers exploring whether dietary strategies can help breast cancer survivors prevent tumors from recurring.  Dr. Kabos along with Paul MacLean, PhD, and Victoria Catenacci, MD, have received a $3 million R01 NIH grant to study the impact of obesity on breast cancer, looking specifically to see if intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding may help prevent risk of recurrence in women who recently completed treatment for breast cancer. “This is a question that we get from patients all the time, what type of strategies should they take to improve their outcomes both during and after treatment?  What we’re trying to do is put data behind that answer" says Dr. Kabos.

Studies show that obesity can lead to higher risk of incidence or recurrence of breast cancer, and as part of their study, Drs. Kabos and MacLean hope to gain a better understanding of the connection.  The foundation of the grant hypothesizes an interplay in the tumor microenvironment between large hypertrophic adipocytes and cancer associated fibroblasts which are working together to create a pro-metastatic tumor microenvironment.  Drs. Kabos and MacLean hypothesize that if they are able to help their patients lose weight, thereby shrinking the adipocytes, making them less inflammatory, the interplay between cancer-associated fibroblasts and these adipocytes would be disrupted thus changing the microarchitecture in which the tumor resides, improving outcomes.  

Intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding are trending in diet culture right now, and Drs. Kabos and MacLean hope to determine whether these approaches have differing physiological benefits from a standard calorie restricted diet.  According to Dr. Kabos,  “There’s data that shows intermittent fasting reduces the toxicity of chemotherapies, but obesity and metabolic syndrome are part of the setup for breast cancer progression or recurrence. That's what we're really trying to study how to best approach and implement in patients.”

The ultimate goal of this five year study is to provide women recovering from breast cancer with another resource to improve outcomes while also identifying new strategies for cancer prevention and management.  “The long-term vision is to personalize health and wellness for all patients with cancer.  In this case, we're studying women with breast cancer and personalizing that part of their care. It's not just about beneficial outcomes or reducing the recurrence, but how can we personalize and put data behind improving the well-being of each individual?” says Dr. Kabos.  

Original Story