ReviewNutrients2021
Ketogenic Diet for Cancer: Critical Assessment and Research Recommendations.
Review in Nutrients, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Dietary Patterns on Migraine Management: Mechanisms of Action and Recent Literature Insights.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Ketogenic Diet as an Adjuvant in Epithelial Cancers: Mechanisms, Model Systems, and Translational Opportunities.Cancers · 2026Review
- Ketogenic Diet and Brain Health: Cerebrovascular Mechanisms, Neuroprotection, and Translational Implications.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Intersection of Precision Nutrition and Bladder Cancer: A Narrative State-of-the-Art Review of Potential Applications and Challenges.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Lifestyle-Based Approaches to Cancer Prevention and Treatment: Diet, Physical Activity, and Integrative Strategies.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2025Review
- Putative Role of Fatty Acid Metabolic Therapy Using Ketogenic Diet and HIF-1α Inhibition in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Evidence from an In Vitro Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Cancer Prevention and Therapy With Nutritional Science: Addressing the Gap in Medical Education and Practice.MedComm · 2025Review
- Chaperone-mediated autophagy, heat shock protein 70, and serotonin: novel targets of beta-hydroxybutyrate in HFFD/LPS-induced sporadic Alzheimer's disease model.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Article
- Ketogenic diet and cancer: multidimensional exploration and research.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Review
- HMGCL activates autophagy in osteosarcoma through β-HB mediated inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Comprehensive Overview of Ketone Bodies in Cancer Metabolism: Mechanisms and Application.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Impact of the Ketogenic Diet on Neurological Diseases: A Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Sex differences in ketogenic diet: are men more likely than women to lose weight?Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Clinical research framework proposal for ketogenic metabolic therapy in glioblastoma.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- An Exogenous Ketone Ester Slows Tumor Progression in Murine Breast and Renal Cancer Models.Cancers · 2024Article
- Nutritional Ketosis as a Therapeutic Approach in Critical Illness: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Metabolomics-driven discovery of therapeutic targets for cancer cachexia.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2024Review
- Differential Effect of Hyperglycemia on the Odds of Cancer Among the Adult Population of the United States.Cureus · 2024Article
- Metabolic alterations and cellular responses to β-Hydroxybutyrate treatment in breast cancer cells.Cancer & metabolism · 2024Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Despite remarkable improvements in screening, diagnosis, and targeted therapies, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States. It is increasingly clear that diet and lifestyle practices play a substantial role in cancer development and progression. As such, various dietary compositions have been proposed for reducing cancer risk and as potential adjuvant therapies. In this article, we critically assess the preclinical and human trials on the effects of the ketogenic diet (KD, i.e., high-fat, moderate-to-low protein, and very-low carbohydrate content) for cancer-related outcomes. The mechanisms underlying the hypothesized effects of KD, most notably the Warburg Effect, suggest that restricting carbohydrate content may impede cancer development and progression via several pathways (e.g., tumor metabolism, gene expression). Overall, although preclinical studies suggest that KD has antitumor effects, prolongs survival, and prevents cancer development, human clinical trials are equivocal. Because of the lack of high-quality clinical trials, the effects of KD on cancer and as an adjunctive therapy are essentially unknown. We propose a set of research recommendations for clinical studies examining the effects of KD on cancer development and progression.
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.