One study found that a low-calorie diet and a moderate exercise program can dramatically improve survival outcomes for children and adolescents diagnosed with the most common childhood cancer: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, researchers at UCLA and Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles announced Thursday.
The researchers said they found that patients who reduced their calorie intake by 10% or more and followed a moderate exercise program immediately after their diagnosis were, on average, 70% less likely to have persistent leukemia cells after one month. Chemotherapy than those who follow the diet and exercise do not.
“We tried a very light diet because it was our first time using it because the first month of treatment is so difficult for patients and families,” said lead author Dr. Steven Mittelman, chief of pediatric endocrinology at UCLA Mattel Children’s. Hospital and member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “But even with these small changes in diet and exercise, the intervention was extremely effective in reducing the risk of detectable bone marrow leukemia.”
Mittleman said the researchers hoped the intervention would improve results, but had no idea it would be equally effective.
“We can’t really add more toxic chemotherapies to the intensive treatment phase, but this is an intervention that is unlikely to have any negative or side effects. In fact, we hope it can even reduce the toxicity caused by chemotherapy, ”he said.
In a clinical study at CHLA, researchers worked with dietitians and physical therapists to create personalized 28-day interventions for 40 young people between the ages of 10 and 21 who had recently been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
The interventions aimed to reduce the participants’ calorie intake by a minimum of 10% to reduce both fat growth and muscle loss, while the physical activity component included a target level of 200 minutes per week of moderate exercise.
According to research director and lead author Dr. Etan Orgel, director of the Medical Supportive Care Service at the Cancer and Disease Institute, it was the first trial to test a diet and exercise intervention to improve cancer treatment outcomes in children . who called it “an exciting proof of concept that can have major implications for other cancers as well.”
The approach will then be tested in a randomized multicentre trial to be launched later this year, the researchers said.
The other authors of the study included Jiyoon Kim and Gang Li of UCLA; Celia Framson, Rubi Buxton, David Freyer, and Matthew Oberley from CHLA, Weili Sun of City of Hope, Jonathan Tucci from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Christina Dieli-Conwright from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
The results of the study are published in the Journal of Hematology of the American Society.