Fasting is a Promising Supportive Therapy for the Treatment of Cancer Patients

Background: This review sheds light on the fast-growing field of 'pharmaconutrition'. Although the idea of fasting is accepted in scientific fields as a type of nutrition for the treatment of diseased states, its protection against different types of cancer is still under investigation. However, there is a conflict between studies on whether short-term fasting would be helpful besides chemotherapy in treating cancerous patients or not. Aim: This review aims to investigate the effect of fasting on cancerous drug responses. Methods: This systematic review could not provide complete data due to wide-ranging population studies, experimental design, and results on the type of cancer and drugs used. The electronic databases on PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, and Embase were searched up to 2023. Results: show that fasting protects against the growth of cancerous cells and protects normal cells from chemotherapy's damaging effects. Moreover, it lowers chemotherapy's adverse effects and increases its effectiveness, as cancer cells cannot adapt to a low energy supply and tolerance to anticancer drugs. Fasting with cisplatin treatments inhibits JUN N-terminal kinase. We, believe that the future of pharmaconutrition in cancer treatment will not only be limited to receiving chemotherapy but also following a specific diet that meets the body's needs to overcome cancer. Conclusions: We encourage the upcoming clinical pharmacology protocols to focus on short-term fasting with periods rich in desired nutrients, besides chemotherapy in cancer treatment, “nutrition and chemotherapy”.