ReviewNature reviews. Cancer2018
Fasting and cancer: molecular mechanisms and clinical application.
Review in Nature reviews. Cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 279 papers, 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
279 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 513 citations in OpenAlex.
- How dietary interventions impact oral conditions: a systematic review.BMC oral health · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Exercise or Diet or Combined Interventions on Treatment Efficacy of Chemotherapy for Cancer: A Systematic Review.Current nutrition reports · 2025Pooled it
- European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) Position Statement on Medical Nutrition Therapy for the Management of Individuals with Overweight or Obesity and Cancer.Obesity facts · 2025Guideline
- Pooled it
- The underexplored links between cancer and the internal body climate: Implications for cancer prevention and treatment.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Exploring the Immunomodulatory Effects of Fasting-Mimicking Diet in Healthy Individuals: A Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Fasting-mimicking diet causes hepatic and blood markers changes indicating reduced biological age and disease risk.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of intermittent vs continuous energy restriction during chemotherapy for early breast cancer.British journal of cancer · 2022Trial
- Innate immune remodeling by short-term intensive fasting.Aging cell · 2021Trial
- Lysosomal metabolism in pancreatic cancer and its crosstalk with host physiology.Genes & development · 2026Review
- FASTINA - protocol for a randomised feasibility trial of time-restricted eating to improve response to multiple myeloma therapy.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Standard Therapy Plus Adjunctive Vegan Lifestyle Intervention in Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Case Report.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Ketogenic Diet as an Adjuvant in Epithelial Cancers: Mechanisms, Model Systems, and Translational Opportunities.Cancers · 2026Review
- Adipocyte-derived β-hydroxybutyrate confers metabolic resilience in multiple myeloma.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Nutrition as Modulator of Oxidative Stress in Cancer Prevention and Treatment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- RagC senses β-hydroxybutyrate abundancy to suppress mTORC1.Protein & cell · 2026Article
- The CHRONO trial: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of early time-restricted eating in patients with breast or rectal cancer.Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Glucose restriction reprograms lipid metabolism and enhances immunotherapy through ZNRF3-Wnt-SCD signaling axis.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Article
- Obesity-derived metabolites modulate anti-tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment: from mechanisms to clinical applications.BMC medicine · 2026Review
219 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The vulnerability of cancer cells to nutrient deprivation and their dependency on specific metabolites are emerging hallmarks of cancer. Fasting or fasting-mimicking diets (FMDs) lead to wide alterations in growth factors and in metabolite levels, generating environments that can reduce the capability of cancer cells to adapt and survive and thus improving the effects of cancer therapies. In addition, fasting or FMDs increase resistance to chemotherapy in normal but not cancer cells and promote regeneration in normal tissues, which could help prevent detrimental and potentially life-threatening side effects of treatments. While fasting is hardly tolerated by patients, both animal and clinical studies show that cycles of low-calorie FMDs are feasible and overall safe. Several clinical trials evaluating the effect of fasting or FMDs on treatment-emergent adverse events and on efficacy outcomes are ongoing. We propose that the combination of FMDs with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or other treatments represents a potentially promising strategy to increase treatment efficacy, prevent resistance acquisition and reduce side effects.
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.