SynthesisJournal of the National Cancer Institute2024
Dietary interventions in cancer: a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond supplements and surrogates: an evidence-quality map informs a strategic rebalancing of dietary research in prostate cancer active surveillance.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Health-related quality of life in esophageal cancer: a state-of-the-art review of patient-reported outcomes and an evidence and gap map.Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Dietary Supplements on Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Natural Products as Nutritional Supplements in Human Disease Prevention and Management: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Translation.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Dietary sulfur amino acids enhance anti-tumor immunity in colon cancer via an NKT cell-XCL1-cDC1 circuit.Immunity · 2026Article
- The role of the gut microbiota in radiation enteritis: from mechanistic insights to therapeutic applications.Communications biology · 2026Review
- The advent of precision nutrigeroscience in cancer: from clinic towards molecular biology.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Trends and disparities in neoplasm-related mortality with death-certificate-documented protein-energy malnutrition in the United States, 1999-2024: a CDC WONDER multiple cause of death study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Association between nutritional status, chemotherapy cycle count and treatment responses in adults with cancer in Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2026Article
- Quality of Life and Metabolomics Analysis in Response to Meal Kit Intervention During Perioperative Chemotherapy in Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Protocol for a Single-Center Phase Ⅱ Randomized Crossover Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Cachexia and Wasting in Chronic Illness: Regulatory and Clinical Trial Update.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- The microbiome in cancer.iMeta · 2025Review
- Redefining Chemoresistance: Natural Bioactives as Molecular Modulators at the Cancer-Tumor Microenvironment Interface.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Role of Diet and Nutrition in Cancer Development and Management: From Molecular Mechanisms to Personalized Interventions.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Thriving after cancer: a special collection on the benefits of exercise and nutrition in cancer survivorship.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2025Article
- Metabolic interplays between the tumour and the host shape the tumour macroenvironment.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2025Review
- Article
- Global burden and trends analysis of common cancers attributable to dietary risks from 1990 to 2021 and projection to 2050: a secondary analysis for the global burden of disease study 2021.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- RE: Dietary interventions in cancer: a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrior systematic reviews addressing the impact of diet on cancer outcomes have focused on specific dietary interventions. In this systematic review, we assessed all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating dietary interventions for cancer patients, examining the range of interventions, endpoints, patient populations, and results.
methodsThis systematic review identified all RCTs conducted before January 2023 testing dietary interventions in patients with cancer. Assessed outcomes included quality of life, functional outcomes, clinical cancer measurements (eg, progression-free survival, response rates), overall survival, and translational endpoints (eg, inflammatory markers).
resultsIn total, 252 RCTs were identified involving 31 067 patients. The median sample size was 71 (interquartile range 41 to 118), and 80 (32%) studies had a sample size greater than 100. Most trials (n = 184, 73%) were conducted in the adjuvant setting. Weight or body composition and translational endpoints were the most common primary endpoints (n = 64, 25%; n = 52, 21%, respectively). Direct cancer measurements and overall survival were primary endpoints in 20 (8%) and 7 (3%) studies, respectively. Eight trials with a primary endpoint of cancer measurement (40%) met their endpoint. Large trials in colon (n = 1429), breast (n = 3088), and prostate cancer (n = 478) each showed no effect of dietary interventions on endpoints measuring cancer.
conclusionMost RCTs of dietary interventions in cancer are small and measure nonclinical endpoints. Although only a small number of large RCTs have been conducted to date, these trials have not shown an improvement in cancer outcomes. Currently, there is limited evidence to support dietary interventions as a therapeutic tool in cancer care.
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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.