A Phase II clinical trial suggests that a medically supervised ketogenic diet (MSKD) may help improve outcomes for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma receiving combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, and cisplatin.
The study included 32 evaluable patients and compared chemotherapy plus the ketogenic diet with chemotherapy plus a usual diet. Results showed encouraging trends for the MSKD group. Median progression-free survival reached 8.5 months, compared with 6.2 months in the control group. Median overall survival was 13.7 months for patients on the ketogenic diet versus 10.2 months for those on a standard diet. The partial tumor response rate was also higher at 68.8%, compared with 31.2% in the control group.
Researchers designed the diet to reduce glucose availability to cancer cells, which often rely heavily on sugar for growth. Nearly all patients following the MSKD achieved nutritional ketosis and had lower blood glucose and HbA1c levels. The diet also appeared to increase beneficial gut bacteria, including Akkermansia muciniphila.
The diet was generally safe and manageable, with only mild side effects such as fatigue and constipation. Researchers say larger Phase III trials are needed to confirm whether the ketogenic diet can improve pancreatic cancer treatment outcomes.