Dr. Roberto Pili stands for a portrait at UB's Clinical and Translational Research Center. He's launching two pilot studies on how diet may affect cancer treatment.
Dr. Roberto Pili is seeking 30 patients for each study.
Could cancer patients benefit from temporarily eating less? A University at Buffalo scientist is launching two pilot studies on how dietary interventions may improve cancer treatments.
One trial will explore whether patients on chemotherapy do better if they eat less before treatments and follow a plant-based diet.
The other will assess whether a low-protein diet may assist the immune system in cancer treatment. This study may be the only one in the country focusing on a specific dietary intervention for patients undergoing immunotherapies for cancer.
“The goal of our studies is to improve the efficacy of therapies and perhaps to reduce the side effects from treatment,” said Dr. Roberto Pili, who holds several titles including chief of hematology/oncology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. “We want to know, can lifestyle interventions help patients in cancer treatment do better?”
Pili has founded UB’s new Sciences, Nutrition and Cancer Center, which is establishing a program for integrative oncology, where dietary interventions, exercise and mind-body medicine are integrated into cancer patient care.
He wants to build on evidence that calorie restriction leading up to chemotherapy may improve patients' response to treatment. In a prior study, women with breast cancer who restricted calories for a few days before pre-surgery chemotherapy treatments had a higher response rate than those who didn’t change their diets.
One woman in the group who followed a restricted, plant-based diet achieved “a complete response,” Pili said.
“That means once they removed the breast tissue and tested it, they could not find any evidence of cancer," he said. "With the restriction in calories, the chemotherapy was able to completely destroy the cancer.”
That kind of response from conventional chemotherapy prior to surgery is achieved only in about 20% to 30% of breast cancer patients.
“With calorie restriction and a plant-based diet, we want to see if we can increase that response rate,” Pili said.
The second study will explore whether restricting animal proteins helps reduce tumor growth. Pili's previous research found that patients who reduced animal protein in their diets from 20% to 7% had their tumors slow down or shrink.
"We know that sugar feeds some cancers and that most cancer cells are sensitive to glucose starvation during treatment," Pili said. "I am equally worried about animal proteins ... We want to see if reducing the amount of protein at the beginning of treatment for a short time may help patients respond better to immunotherapy."
The studies are open to patients currently receiving chemotherapy or immune therapies for any cancer. The studies are enrolling 30 patients each. More information is at clinicaltrials.gov. Patients interested in participating may call 716-878-3317.
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SUNY Fredonia faculty offer STEM learning at Chautauqua
Faculty in the Department of Biology at SUNY Fredonia State have created a new collaboration with the Chautauqua Institution to increase science education opportunities for Chautauqua County students this summer through the institution’s Chautauqua Field Trips program.
Over 1,100 students from 12 school districts attended the inaugural field trip program that was designed to provide a full Chautauqua Institution experience in one day covering the institution’s four pillars: art, education, recreation and religion.
Associate Professors Courtney Wigdahl-Perry and Scott Ferguson developed and conducted two STEM/STEAM activities – Strawberry DNA Extraction and Water Matters, an introduction to water science – over the course of four days.
In Wigdahl-Perry’s activity, Water Matters, students used microscopes to examine lake water samples and made paint out of lake sediments to color sketches of Chautauqua’s Miller Bell Tower. Wigdahl-Perry also demonstrated how she uses paleolimnology – the study of ancient inland waters – to examine the history of environmental changes in the lake.
Ferguson and Wigdahl-Perry team-taught Strawberry DNA Extraction to demonstrate the universality of DNA across domains of life. They crushed berries in a plastic bag to break down the fruit, thickened it with dish soap and salt, and applied rubbing alcohol to draw the DNA out of the solution. Students then made necklaces with tubes containing the strawberry DNA.
Ferguson then outlined the function of DNA in biology, and showed insects, flowers and even the students’ own fingertips under a microscope.
Fredonia plans to continue offering pop-up STEM sessions during the Chautauqua season.
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Dr. Roberto Pili stands for a portrait at UB's Clinical and Translational Research Center. He's launching two pilot studies on how diet may affect cancer treatment.
Dr. Roberto Pili is seeking 30 patients for each study.
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