REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1677509
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Nutrition in Cancer Therapy: Approaches to Improve Patient Outcomes and SurvivalView all 13 articles
Impact of ketogenic and fast-mimicking diet in gastrointestinal cancer treatment Nutrition in gastrointestinal cancer treatment
Provisionally accepted
Elisa Colombo1
Margherita Righini2,3
Vyshnavy Balendra4Konul Rustamli5Ornella Garrone6Margherita Ratti7
Michele Ghidini6*- 1National Federation of Orders of Biologists, Milan, Italy
- 2Universita degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy
- 3Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma, Parma, Italy
- 4University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, United States
- 5Universita degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Novara, Italy
- 6Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Dipartimento Area Medica, Milan, Italy
- 7Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale di Piacenza, Piacenza, Italy
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Growing evidence suggests that both the ketogenic diet (KD) and the fast-mimicking diet (FMD) may have significant therapeutic effects in the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. KD, characterized by a high fat intake and low carbohydrate intake, induces a state of ketosis that alters energy metabolism, reducing the availability of energy for cancer cells and slowing their growth. Similarly, FMT, which simulates the effects of fasting without requiring complete food abstention, has been studied for its potential to enhance immune response, reduce inflammation, and stimulate autophagy, contributing to the removal of damaged cells. Preclinical and clinical studies indicate that both dietary strategies may enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy while reducing the side effects associated with conventional treatments. Despite these promising findings, few studies have investigated the potential impact of these diets on anticancer treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, and further studies are necessary to better understand the biological mechanisms and to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these strategies in broader clinical settings. With our review, we aim to analyze the available literature on KD and FMD and their role in the treatment of GI cancers.
Keywords: gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, Ketogenic diet (KD), Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD), β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB), reactive oxygen species (ROS), Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), ketone bodies (KBs), oxidative stress (OxS)
Received: 31 Jul 2025; Accepted: 22 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Colombo, Righini, Balendra, Rustamli, Garrone, Ratti and Ghidini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Michele Ghidini, mghido@hotmail.it
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.