Could Keto diet increase chances of breast cancer?

For many people, losing weight is among their top priorities.

The Ketogenic diet, or Keto diet, which is similar to the Atkins diet of the 1970s, is becoming increasingly popular with many people swearing by its efficacy. But a new study is flashing danger signs for those on high-fat and low carb diets like Keto, saying it may increase your chances of getting breast cancer.

But what happened? What do we know?

Let’s take a closer look

The Keto diet

The Keto diet originated in the 19th century. The idea behind the diet was originally to control diabetes. It was also used to treat paediatric drug-resistant epilepsy and reduce seizures in the 1920s.

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It relies on consuming a high level of fat, some amount of protein and a low level of carbohydrates. The idea behind the diet is to put the body in the state of ketosis – where it is constantly burning fat for fuel rather than glucose. Though the diet has shown great success for many in the short-term including weight loss and improvements in total cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure, the impact of such a diet in the long-term remains unanswered.

What the study found

The research was undertaken by scientists at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. Entitled Hyperlipidemia drives tumour growth in a mouse model of obesity-accelerated breast cancer, the study was published in the journal Cancer & Metabolism.

The scientists found that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is fuelled by lipid cells – fats which are found plentifully in people with obesity. They found that fatty acids linked to obesity, a condition called hyperlipidaemia wherein you have high levels of fat in the blood, can quicken the growth of tumours.

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“When breast cancer cells receive signals to multiply, the abundance of lipids acts like extra building blocks,” Amandine Chaix, PhD, one of the study’s lead investigators, explained. “That makes it easier for tumours to grow.”

The scientists conducted the experiment on mice on high-fat diets and those genetically engineered to have hyperlipidaemia. They drew a link between lipids and breast cancer.

Researchers found that lowering the amount of lipids in the mice, even as high glucose and insulin levels remained, caused the rate of cancer cell growth to slow.

“The idea is that lipids, which form the surface membrane of the cell, are like building blocks,” Chaix said. “If a cell receives the signal to proliferate [increase or multiply] and more building blocks are available, the tumour is going to grow more easily. We see that a high amount of lipids enables this proliferation.”

“People have underestimated the importance of fats and lipids in obesity,” added Keren Hilgendorf, PhD, co-senior author of the study. “Our research shows that breast cancer cells are literally fuelled by lipids, and that’s one of the reasons the disease is more aggressive in people with obesity.”

What about the Keto diet?

Those conducting the study warned people suffering from high cholesterol from going on a high-fat diet like Keto.

“If you already have high cholesterol or triglycerides, eating a high-fat diet like Keto could make things worse,” Greg Ducker, PhD, a co-author of the study added. “It could even provide more fuel for the tumour to grow.”

The scientists have asked breast cancer patients and survivors who are obese to check with their doctors before beginning any new diet. They also suggested trying to lower lipid levels via medication or food intake.

They did note the limitations of their study – that it is in the early stage and that mice have different metabolism than humans.
However, they remained optimistic about the potential positive results of their study.

“We think this has therapeutic implications, because if you could just lower the lipids—which we already know how to do in patients, for example, with lipid-lowering medication—that could be a way to decelerate breast cancer growth. If we can target these high levels of fat in the blood, the cancer suffers because the lipids are no longer feeding the cancer,” Hilgendorf said.

Hilgendorf added that more research is needed.

“But while our results in mice were striking, there are clear limitations in directly projecting these findings onto human patients. More research using human samples and patients will be necessary to confirm our hypotheses.”

With inputs from agencies