Effect of Food and dietary Plans on Lung Cancer

 5. Effects of Food and Dietary Plans on Lung Cancer

As said above, body composition and eventually the presence of sarcopenia are crucial factors determining the risk, response to therapy and therefore the prognosis of lung cancer patients. 

Considering nutritional status as a determining factor of the body composition, in recent years growing attention has been paid to the choice of dietary plans as well as to performing physical activity.

 Dietary schemes as well as specific foods-enriched diet influence the predisposition towards cancer disease and the response to therapies and therefore the prognosis. 

The main molecular processes regulated by specific diet patterns, functional foods and physical activity in relation to cancer are the inflammation and oxidative stress. 

In the next paragraphs, we report the main dietary schemes associated to body composition, response to therapy and prognosis of lung cancer patients: caloric restriction, PUFA-enriched diets, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), fibers-enriched diet and diary-enriched diet. Since a considerable variety of bioactive ingredients have been identified in foods, we will also report interesting data for single compounds.

5.1. Caloric Restriction

It is widely believed that calorie restriction can extend the lifespan of model organisms and protect against aging-related diseases, such as lung cancer. 

In breast cancer, Simone et al. demonstrated that caloric restriction can augment the effects of radiation therapy as well as chemotherapy in a mouse model of breast cancer [72]. 

Interestingly, Safdie et al. analyzed patients diagnosed with a variety of malignancies (one with lung cancer) that voluntarily fasted prior to (48–140 h) and/or following (5–56 h) chemotherapy reporting a reduction in fatigue, weakness and gastrointestinal side effects while fasting [73]. 

The molecular mechanism of caloric restriction action is mainly related to the decrease of chemotherapy-induced inflammation and induction of energy stress resulting in increased efficacy of therapy. 

In lung cancer, Caiola et al. suggested, through in vitro studies, that caloric restriction regimens may sensitize NSCLC lesions carrying KRAS mutation and LKB1 loss to cytotoxic chemotherapy through induction of energy stress [74]. 

Resveratrol has been proposed as an active molecule mimicking the effects of caloric restriction which may have beneficial effects against numerous diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer [75]. 

The positive effects in cancer are related to by the inhibition of oxidative stress, inflammation, aging, and fibrosis [76,77].

 In lung cancer, and more widely, in lung diseases resveratrol represents a promising natural compound to be used in association with other drugs [78].

 Although it is clear that resveratrol has shown excellent anti-cancer properties, most of the studies were performed in vitro or in pre-clinical models. Few clinical trials have been developed on the administration of resveratrol in cancer patients [79,80]. 

In addition, resveratrol in its current form is not ideal as therapy because, even at very high doses, it has modest efficacy and many downstream effects [81].

 The identification of the cellular targets responsible for resveratrol effects would help in the development of target specific therapies based on this drug

Ref

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 1;18(5):2399. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052399

Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Microbiota: Which Impact on Lung Cancer?

Ersilia Nigro 1,2, Fabio Perrotta 3, Filippo Scialò 2,4, Vito D’Agnano 3, Marta Mallardo 1,2, Andrea Bianco 2,4,*, Aurora Daniele 1,2,*

Editor: Dagrun Engeset