Could a Keto Diet Boost the Power of CAR T Cell Therapy?
CAR T cell therapy, a revolutionary cancer treatment, reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. While it has shown impressive results, it doesn’t work for everyone. Now, groundbreaking research suggests a simple dietary tweak – the ketogenic diet – could be the key to unlocking its full potential.
CAR T Cells Prefer Beta-Hydroxybutyrate
The study, presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, found that a ketogenic diet significantly improved the tumor-fighting capabilities of CAR T cells in mice with lymphoma. The secret? A metabolite produced by the liver in response to a keto diet – beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB).
Researchers theorize that CAR T cells prefer BHB as an energy source over glucose. Increasing BHB levels, therefore, gives the CAR T cells more fuel to destroy cancer cells.
BHB Supplements Show Promise
Further studies using BHB supplements in human cancer models yielded promising results. These supplements, combined with CAR T cell therapy, led to near-complete cancer eradication in mice and enhanced CAR T cell expansion and activation.
Encouragingly, blood samples from patients who had received CAR T cell therapy showed a correlation between higher BHB levels and better CAR T cell expansion. Similar responses were observed in healthy volunteers who took BHB supplements.
Clinical Trials on the Horizon
These exciting findings are being translated into a clinical trial at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. This trial will investigate the safety and effectiveness of BHB supplementation in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma receiving commercially available anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy.
A Simple and Cost-Effective Solution?
If successful, this simple dietary intervention could revolutionize cancer treatment. "We’re talking about an intervention that is relatively cheap and has low toxicity potential," says Maayan Levy, Ph.D., one of the study’s lead authors.
While further research is needed, this innovative approach to enhancing CAR T cell therapy offers a glimmer of hope for patients battling cancer.
Are you interested in learning more about the latest advancements in CAR T cell therapy? Explore the link below for more information:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06610344
