Urvi Shah, Attending Physician on Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Can dietary changes delay progression from precursor disorders to myeloma (MM)? Excited to share our manuscript is published! AACR Journals Cancer Discovery.
As a Hodgkin lymphoma survivor and an oncologist, I’ve found that “What should I eat?” is one of the most common questions patients with cancer ask – yet often the hardest one to answer. This question stayed with me, and in 2019 it sparked a deeper curiosity that ultimately led to the development of the NUTRIVENTION Trials.
Consumption of a western diet and high BMI are risk factors for progression from pre-malignant phenotypes to MM. In the NUTRIVENTION trial (NCT04920084), we administered a high-fiber, plant-based diet (meals for 12 weeks, coaching for 24 weeks) to 23 participants with myeloma precursor states and elevated BMI.
The intervention was feasible, improved quality of life and modifiable risk factors: metabolic (BMI, insulin resistance), microbiome (diversity, composition), and immune (inflammation, monocyte subsets). Disease-progression trajectory improved (n=2) or was stable.
Findings were translated to Vk*MYC mice modeling the MM-precursor state Matteo Bellone lab, in which a high-fiber diet delayed disease progression through improved metabolism and microbiome composition leading to increased SCFA production that reinvigorated anti-tumor immunity and inhibited tumor growth. These effects from fiber consumption were independent of calorie restriction and weight loss.
We show for the first time that a high-fiber diet is a low-risk intervention that may delay progression to MM. This project is truly team science and an amazing multi-institutional collaborative effort that spans 3 countries and 7 years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank mentors, collaborators and participants who believed in the importance of this work.”
More from Urvi Shah.