Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18447912›Full record

ArticleBMC cancer2008

Growth of human gastric cancer cells in nude mice is delayed by a ketogenic diet supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides.

Christoph Otto, Ulrike Kaemmerer, Bertram Illert, Bettina Muehling, Nadja Pfetzer, Rainer Wittig, Hans Ullrich Voelker, Arnulf Thiede, Johannes F Coy

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cancer, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05119010 (A Pilot Study Evaluating a Ketogenic Diet Concomitant to Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma), which is not on this map. Cited by 120 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
120citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05119010 naterminatednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

A Pilot Study Evaluating a Ketogenic Diet Concomitant to Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

TypeinterventionalSponsorGustave Roussy, Cancer Campus, Grand ParisRan2023 to 2024Enrolled3ConditionsMetastatic Renal Cell CarcinomaArmsContinuous ketogenic diet, Discontinuous ketogenic diet, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) supplementation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

120 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 209 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. The Interplay between the Gut and Ketogenic Diets in Health and Disease.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Review
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60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Christoph OttoExperimental Transplantation Immunology, Department of Surgery, University of Würzburg Hospital, Oberdürrbacher Str, 6, D-97080 Würzburg, Germany. otto_c@chirurgie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Ulrike Kaemmerer
Bertram Illert
Bettina Muehling
Nadja Pfetzer
Rainer Wittig
Hans Ullrich Voelker
Arnulf Thiede
Johannes F Coy
Universitätsklinikum Würzburg · DEUniversity of Würzburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAmong the most prominent metabolic alterations in cancer cells are the increase in glucose consumption and the conversion of glucose to lactic acid via the reduction of pyruvate even in the presence of oxygen. This phenomenon, known as aerobic glycolysis or the Warburg effect, may provide a rationale for therapeutic strategies that inhibit tumour growth by administration of a ketogenic diet with average protein but low in carbohydrates and high in fat enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT).

methodsTwenty-four female NMRI nude mice were injected subcutaneously with tumour cells of the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line 23132/87. The animals were then randomly split into two feeding groups and fed either a ketogenic diet (KD group; n = 12) or a standard diet (SD group; n = 12) ad libitum. Experiments were ended upon attainment of the target tumor volume of 600 mm3 to 700 mm3. The two diets were compared based on tumour growth and survival time (interval between tumour cell injection and attainment of target tumour volume).

resultsThe ketogenic diet was well accepted by the KD mice. The tumour growth in the KD group was significantly delayed compared to that in the SD group. Tumours in the KD group reached the target tumour volume at 34.2 +/- 8.5 days versus only 23.3 +/- 3.9 days in the SD group. After day 20, tumours in the KD group grew faster although the differences in mean tumour growth continued significantly. Importantly, they revealed significantly larger necrotic areas than tumours of the SD group and the areas with vital tumour cells appear to have had fewer vessels than tumours of the SD group. Viable tumour cells in the border zone surrounding the necrotic areas of tumours of both groups exhibited a glycolytic phenotype with expression of glucose transporter-1 and transketolase-like 1 enzyme.

conclusionApplication of an unrestricted ketogenic diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and MCT delayed tumour growth in a mouse xenograft model. Further studies are needed to address the impact of this diet on other tumour-relevant functions such as invasive growth and metastasis.

Indexed as

Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted3-Hydroxybutyric AcidAdenocarcinomaAnimalsBiomarkers, TumorCell Line, TumorFatty Acids, Omega-3FemaleHumansMiceMice, NudeNeoplasm TransplantationNeovascularization, PathologicStomach NeoplasmsTriglyceridesTumor Burden3-Hydroxybutyric AcidBiomarkers, TumorFatty Acids, Omega-3Triglycerides

Identifiers

PMID18447912
PMCPMC2408928
OpenAlexW2008125452

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.