# Treating cancer via diet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692 "2022-11-28T16:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/61 "2022-11-30T13:22:58Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Where would immunotherapy fit into this? Or medications and treatments that stimulate cellular growth, sensitize cells to particular substances, or release/regulation of hormones or other endogenous substances? Teaching the immune system to recognise cancers and kill them is a long hoped for therapy. It actually can work. But the immune system has been programmed to ignore the self. This makes things hard. No doubt, cancers have to evade the immune system, but this just means that the cells that don’t get eaten early on are the ones that grow into proper cancers. So there is a limited set of ways the cancers might be recognised as “other”. The flip side is that the last thing you want to do is create an immune response that is at all over eager and starts to actively attack healthy cells. Sensitising cancer cells to therapies is a thing. But again, there is a limited range of things you can achieve before collateral damage to healthy cells gets to be a problem. Regulation of some cell lines by growth factors can help. Say prostate or breast cancer. The growth of the base cell lines is modulated by oestrogen and testosterone. So therapies can be used that slow things down. There isn’t a cure here, but it all helps. Sometimes quite a bit. Castration helps with prostate cancer. Not everyone is happy about that. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/62 "2022-11-30T14:18:13Z")
Thank you. A nice answer, but I was responding to the post that said all medicine was cutting or poisoning with examples of other types of treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/63 "2022-11-30T15:07:18Z")
A list of targeted therapies and the cancers they are used to treat: > **[Targeted Therapy Drug List by Cancer Type](https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/targeted-therapies/approved-drug-list#targeted-therapy-approved-for-gastrointestinal-stromal-tumor)** > > Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide, and spread. Learn more about targeted therapy drugs that have been approved by the FDA to treat specific types of cancer. Sometimes they are used in conjunction with chemotherapy. The point is that while there’s still quite a ways to go, we’ve come a long way from just “cut, poison, burn”. The “cut” and “burn” (radiotherapy) parts have also gotten more precise/targeted. Incidentally, a major part of dietary advice for cancer patients involves the avoidance of undercooked/raw foods in patients whose therapy has made them neutropenic and thus more susceptible to infection. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/64 "2022-12-02T00:45:57Z")
There’s a very rare form of leukemia whose treatment includes an arsenical compound, preceded by 500mg of IV Vitamin C. Apparently the vitamin C somehow boosts the effects of the drug in ways that are still poorly understood. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/65 "2022-12-02T01:18:48Z")
For some serendipitous reason this video just appeared in my feed. (I sometimes wonder if Google watches forums.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/K09xzIQ8zsg/maxresdefault.jpg "Tumour immunology and immunotherapy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K09xzIQ8zsg) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/66 "2022-12-03T01:52:28Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Well, I took “the poisons” to mean the stuff in chemo that you DON’T want, not the stuff you do. Usually, “poison” has a negative connotation and “medicine” a positive one. @LSLGuy understood perfectly. Chemo drugs are poisons but chosen to do more damage to cancer cells than to healthy ones. But poisons, nonetheless and you don’t want foods that counter them. Once the oncologist pointed this out, my SIL stopped doing it. Not that it did much good, for he died a few months later. But glioblastoma is essentially uncurable. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/67 "2023-01-11T18:33:41Z")
For half a century or more, I have studiously adhered to any study touting the salutary effects of coffee, while assiduously ignoring any study claiming that coffee had ill health effects. I have, in short, a clear bias 😉 This guy does good vids, IMHO, but he has a pretty clear bias toward plant-based diets. He makes a Prosecutor’s case, I would say, by (probably) cherry-picking his studies, but he basically _presents_ the studies, so there’s a bibliography of sorts if the rabbit hole calls to you. Caveat given, I think this is worth the six-minutes: # The Best Diet for Cancer Patients [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jJg5N8a_dQM/maxresdefault.jpg "The Best Diet for Cancer Patients") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJg5N8a_dQM) Generally, from MY POV, I find this guy to be a “can’t hurt, might help” kind of source. What I do NOT find him to be is a disreputable quack or a medical iconoclast. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/68 "2023-01-11T19:26:18Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > This guy does good vids, IMHO In the first 90 seconds he does a bait-and-switch. He first cites the (indisputable) evidence that diet is a major factor in cancer _risk_, because it affects the DNA mutation rate in cells. He then starts talking about people who ALREADY HAVE cancer, comments that oncologists don’t pay much attention to diet, and says that they should - “given the critical role that diet may play”. But he had presented no evidence whatsoever that diet is important in cancer _treatment_, only for cancer _risk_. Again: > [@Riemann](#): > > To reiterate this at a molecular level… some aspects of diet can be preventative - diet and a healthy lifestyle can reduce the overall DNA mutation rate and perhaps improve immune surveillance. But once the required set of mutations to cause cancer have already taken place, reducing the ongoing rate of mutation is irrelevant, and a slight boost to your general health and your immune system isn’t going to make any difference. Once a cancer is established, more radical action is required to excise or destroy the already-mutated cells. > > Using diet to attempt to cure cancer is like treating melanoma with sunblock. In the video he then cites this paper: [Adherence to the WCRF/AICR guidelines for cancer prevention is associated with lower mortality among older female cancer survivors - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23462914/) He implies this is direct evidence in support of _treating_ cancer by following the same diet recommendations that prevent cancer. Bullshit. This paper looks at the long term survival of people long since in remission - so it’s closer to a prevention scenario, not treatment of an acute condition. He then cites this paper about a “trial” of an alkaline diet. [https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/anticanres/37/9/5141.full.pdf](https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/anticanres/37/9/5141.full.pdf) 11 patients, no control group, this “evidence” is a joke. He then cites this well known study: [Intensive lifestyle changes may affect the progression of prostate cancer - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16094059/) This was at least a good enough design to constitute something that fits the usual definition of “evidence”, but it’s very weak evidence. Here’s an objective assessment of the significance of that study: [Lifestyle therapy for prostate cancer: Does it work? - Harvard Health](https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/lifestyle-therapy-for-prostate-cancer-does-it-work) > The first challenge was to identify patients who were medically and ethically appropriate for the study. Only men who had already decided against active conventional therapy were eligible. So the study did not compare special diet to conventional therapy, it compared special diet to nothing. > The intensive lifestyle study did not answer the $64,000 question: Can this program improve a man’s outlook? Since all the men had early-stage, less aggressive tumors, the cancers would be unlikely to grow fast enough to demonstrate clinical differences in just a year. … Having conceded that there’s not really any evidence, he concludes with the usual canard: “Why wait, what’s the downside of trying to eat healthier?” Quite obviously the downside is that if you imply without evidence that diet works as a _treatment_ for cancer, when conventional treatments can be extremely unpleasant, then people may foolishly decide to forego conventional treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/69 "2023-01-11T19:49:27Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > he has a pretty clear bias toward plant-based diets That may be understating the case. Regarding Dr Michael Greger and the website where that video was posted: > [NutritionFacts.org](http://NutritionFacts.org) is a website run by Dr. Michael Greger, the author of several books promoting strict veganism as a cure for many ailments. [https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/nutritionfacts-org](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/nutritionfacts-org) Here’s Harriet Hall on Greger: > **[Death as a Foodborne Illness Curable by Veganism](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/death-as-a-foodborne-illness-curable-by-veganism/)** > > Can you cure death through a vegan diet? Of course not. But some people claim you can. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/70 "2023-01-11T20:41:57Z")
I am zero kinds of experts but he’s ignoring that for some people undergoing chemo it’s more “what can I eat that stays down” than anything. When the nurse was going over everything at my first chemo treatment they had a,list of foods you should avoid if you have Symptom X or Diagnosis Y. And of course lots of people have huge problems with nausea. Or taste changing. For 4 or 5 days while undergoing chemo and radiation I could taste root beer and raw cucumbers. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/71 "2023-01-11T21:16:49Z")
Depending on how many years ago you had chemo, the world of anti-emetic drugs has expanded a LOT in the last 10 years. Many chemo patients on many regimens now have no nausea at all. Others are less than fully successful. The perception of flavors changing or of food being generally off-putting is still a problem, especially in late stage cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/72 "2023-01-11T22:27:42Z")
Anyone who promotes an “alkaline diet”, whether to treat cancer or for any other reason, has automatically lost my respect. “The founder of the alkaline diet, Robert Young, made the false claim that the diet aids in cancer treatment. As a result, some cancer patients have turned to the alkaline diet for treatment and found no relief.” “In some cases, a strict alkaline diet only caused muscle loss and [back pain](https://www.insider.com/alkaline-ph-diet-founder-arrested-2017-1). Young was later sued and [arrested for practicing medicine without a license](https://www.insider.com/alkaline-ph-diet-founder-arrested-2017-1).” “Moreover, the American Institute for Cancer Research also[rejects claims](https://www.aicr.org/patients-survivors/healthy-or-harmful/alkaline-diets.html) that eating acidic foods can lower the body’s pH and promote cancer.” > **[What is the alkaline diet and why it is pseudoscience](https://www.insider.com/guides/health/diet-nutrition/alkaline-diet?amp)** > > Though public figures have promoted the alkaline diet as a way to do anything from lose weight to cure cancer, most claims about the diet are false. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/73 "2023-01-11T23:46:45Z")
Still undergoing it. I have barely any nausea. Never really had it. But some people at chemo definitely do from what I have overheard. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692/74 "2023-01-12T01:44:54Z")
> After she was diagnosed with breast cancer and got a mastectomy, she promptly turned to dozens of crazy diets (e.g. eating tons of carrots My uncle tried the carrot diet when his prostate cancer returned after several years of remission. He ate so many carrots that he literally turned orange. He died. I couldn’t tell you what the relationship between carrots and death was for him, but in any case it didn’t work out so well for him. That’s not to say that anything else would have worked better, though - he had tried the traditional treatment route, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/treating-cancer-via-diet/975692.md?page=3)