ArticlePloS one2013
The ketogenic diet and hyperbaric oxygen therapy prolong survival in mice with systemic metastatic cancer.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 194 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
- Ketogenic diets in medical oncology: a systematic review with focus on clinical outcomes.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Ketogenic Diet Reduces Central Obesity and Serum Insulin in Women with Ovarian or Endometrial Cancer.The Journal of nutrition · 2018Trial
- 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 as an Adjuvant in Epithelial Cancers: Mechanisms, Model Systems, and Translational Opportunities.Cancers · 2026Review
- Management of advanced HR-positive breast cancer using metabolically supported chemotherapy and repurposed drugs: a case report.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- The planetary diet: a nutritional utopia in conflict with human evolution.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Article
- Ketogenic diet and cancer: multidimensional exploration and research.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Review
- Co-targeting of metabolism using dietary and pharmacologic approaches reduces breast cancer metastatic burden.NPJ breast cancer · 2025Article
- Ketone body, as an emerging modulator of metabolic reprogramming and epigenetics in breast cancer.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2025Review
- Clinical research framework proposal for ketogenic metabolic therapy in glioblastoma.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- Systematic Review and Clinical Insights: The Role of the Ketogenic Diet in Managing Glioblastoma in Cancer Neuroscience.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Oxidative Stress in Military Missions-Impact and Management Strategies: A Narrative Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Article
- Microbial Therapy and Breast Cancer Management: Exploring Mechanisms, Clinical Efficacy, and Integration within the One Health Approach.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Beta-Hydroxybutyrate: A Supplemental Molecule for Various Diseases.Current drug targets · 2024Review
43 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
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAbnormal cancer metabolism creates a glycolytic-dependency which can be exploited by lowering glucose availability to the tumor. The ketogenic diet (KD) is a low carbohydrate, high fat diet which decreases blood glucose and elevates blood ketones and has been shown to slow cancer progression in animals and humans. Abnormal tumor vasculature creates hypoxic pockets which promote cancer progression and further increase the glycolytic-dependency of cancers. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO₂T) saturates tumors with oxygen, reversing the cancer promoting effects of tumor hypoxia. Since these non-toxic therapies exploit overlapping metabolic deficiencies of cancer, we tested their combined effects on cancer progression in a natural model of metastatic disease.
methodsWe used the firefly luciferase-tagged VM-M3 mouse model of metastatic cancer to compare tumor progression and survival in mice fed standard or KD ad libitum with or without HBO₂T (2.5 ATM absolute, 90 min, 3x/week). Tumor growth was monitored by in vivo bioluminescent imaging.
resultsKD alone significantly decreased blood glucose, slowed tumor growth, and increased mean survival time by 56.7% in mice with systemic metastatic cancer. While HBO₂T alone did not influence cancer progression, combining the KD with HBO₂T elicited a significant decrease in blood glucose, tumor growth rate, and 77.9% increase in mean survival time compared to controls.
conclusionsKD and HBO₂T produce significant anti-cancer effects when combined in a natural model of systemic metastatic cancer. Our evidence suggests that these therapies should be further investigated as potential non-toxic treatments or adjuvant therapies to standard care for patients with systemic metastatic disease.
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