ArticlePloS one2012
The ketogenic diet is an effective adjuvant to radiation therapy for the treatment of malignant glioma.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 159 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Phase I/II Prospective Trial for Newly Diagnosed GBM, With Upfront Gross or Subtotal Resection, Followed by Ketogenic Diet With Radiotherapy and Concurrent Temodar(R) Chemotherapy Followed by Adjuvant Temodar(R) Chemotherapy.
A Pilot Study Evaluating a Ketogenic Diet Concomitant to Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
A Modified Ketogenic, Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Patients With High-Grade Gliomas
Who cites it
159 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 277 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of ketogenic metabolic therapy as an adjuvant to the current standard of care in the treatment of glioblastoma: A systematic review of clinical trials.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Cancer Treatment With the Ketogenic Diet: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Animal Studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Perspective: Do Fasting, Caloric Restriction, and Diets Increase Sensitivity to Radiotherapy? A Literature Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Ketogenic diets in medical oncology: a systematic review with focus on clinical outcomes.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Plasma lipidomic and metabolomic profiles in high-grade glioma patients before and after 72-h presurgery water-only fasting.Molecular oncology · 2025Trial
- Ca:Mg ratio, medium-chain fatty acids, and the gut microbiome.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2022Trial
- Short-term fasting in glioma patients: analysis of diet diaries and metabolic parameters of the ERGO2 trial.European journal of nutrition · 2022Trial
- Feasibility and Biological Activity of a Ketogenic/Intermittent-Fasting Diet in Patients With Glioma.Neurology · 2021Trial
- Ketogenic diets as an adjuvant therapy for glioblastoma (KEATING): a randomized, mixed methods, feasibility study.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2020Trial
- A Ketogenic Diet Reduces Central Obesity and Serum Insulin in Women with Ovarian or Endometrial Cancer.The Journal of nutrition · 2018Trial
- ERGO: a pilot study of ketogenic diet in recurrent glioblastoma.International journal of oncology · 2014Trial
- Targeting metabolism with a ketogenic diet during the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2014Trial
- Ketogenic diet as a systems-level immunometabolic sensitization strategy in cancer therapy: integrating metabolism, immune reprogramming, microbiome dynamics, and epigenetic regulation.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2026Review
- Ketogenic Diet: A Metabolic Key to Overcoming Cancer Therapy Resistance.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Review
- Innovative strategies to overcome cancer drug resistance: from nanodelivery systems to targeted therapeutics.Discover oncology · 2026Review
- The Role of the Ketogenic Diet in Lung Cancer: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives.Cancers · 2026Review
- Review
- Enhanced lipid metabolism serves as a metabolic vulnerability to polyunsaturated fatty acids in glioblastoma.JCI insight · 2026Article
99 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that alters metabolism by increasing the level of ketone bodies in the blood. KetoCal® (KC) is a nutritionally complete, commercially available 4:1 (fat:carbohydrate+protein) ketogenic formula that is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for the management of refractory pediatric epilepsy. Diet-induced ketosis causes changes to brain homeostasis that have potential for the treatment of other neurological diseases such as malignant gliomas.
methodsWe used an intracranial bioluminescent mouse model of malignant glioma. Following implantation animals were maintained on standard diet (SD) or KC. The mice received 2×4 Gy of whole brain radiation and tumor growth was followed by in vivo imaging.
resultsAnimals fed KC had elevated levels of β-hydroxybutyrate (p = 0.0173) and an increased median survival of approximately 5 days relative to animals maintained on SD. KC plus radiation treatment were more than additive, and in 9 of 11 irradiated animals maintained on KC the bioluminescent signal from the tumor cells diminished below the level of detection (p<0.0001). Animals were switched to SD 101 days after implantation and no signs of tumor recurrence were seen for over 200 days.
conclusionsKC significantly enhances the anti-tumor effect of radiation. This suggests that cellular metabolic alterations induced through KC may be useful as an adjuvant to the current standard of care for the treatment of human malignant gliomas.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.