"What develops then is an escalating situation of biological chaos, where the intrinsic properties of TAMs to heal wounds increase the capacity of brain tumor cells to proliferate, invade, and self-renew," writes Seyfried and his co-authors, researchers Laura M. Shelton and Purna Mukherjee. "High glucose concentrations together with unrestricted glutamine availability will provide the energy necessary to drive this escalating situation."

Seyfried says this "perfect storm" of side-effects from the standard of care for glioblastoma should invite a broader discussion among researchers for potential alternative therapies. Through his past research, Seyfried has detailed the benefits of non-toxic metabolic therapies involving ketogenic diets that effectively restrict glucose-based fuels to brain tumors. By regulating glucose availability while simultaneously elevating fat-derived ketone bodies, which brain tumors cannot actively use for growth or survival, the ketogenic diet has been shown to control epileptic seizures, but there have been no human trials to test its therapeutic efficacy against brain cancer.

Source: Boston College