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DIETARY CHANGE

Faced with a relapse of stage 4 HGSOC, I decided to try a dietary change.  After reading Jane McClelland's book How to Starve Cancer, I started cutting out all sugars, dairy, and meats (except fish).  It was a sudden change without much in-depth understanding on my part.  A straw to clutch at.  We all know that a relapse is bad news, facing a battle-hardened cancer that may prove resistant to chemo.

I had the first of 6 Caelyx/carboplatin treatments at the end of March.

My pretreatment PA125 reading was 175. 

The second pretreatment reading was 150 (result of chemo 1)

After chemo 2, I started the dietary change for 4 weeks.  

The third pretreatment reading was 25 (Result of chemo 2? Result of dieting?  Combination of both?).

FASTING

After reading about an Italian study (link below), I decided to try fasting during chemotherapy.  I told my oncologist that I was going to fast during the 3rd chemotherapy.  He wasn't on board, but did not contest.  He arranged for me to meet the oncology nutritionist.  A blood test showed that I was not nutritionally deficient.  The main deficit seems to be calories, because my weight is slowly going down.

After a 48-hour fast during chemo 3, the fourth pretreatment reading was 9 (Result of chemo 3? Result of dieting?  Result of fasting? Combination of all?).  

On July 3, I finished fasting for 60 hours (per the number of hours in the Italian study) during chemo 4.  Wonder what my 5th pretreatment reading will be before chemo 5 at the end of the month.

Just wanted to share this straw-clutching venture.  

Italian study

Effects of short-term fasting compared to free diet in ovarian cancer patients: Results from a two-arm pilot randomized trial:  Short-term fasting (STF) may enhance chemotherapy efficacy by suppressing insulin-driven pro-survival signaling. 

(https://www.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/258047)

HI Soleil

Thanks for sharing!  Love Jane's book ❤️. I've been researching the short term fast method and really interested in the article you shared. 
have a great day! 

Yes, that's the problem.  One size does not fit all when it comes to reacting to treatments or diets.  Fasting was a bet I took.  My body reacted well.  We never know.  Unfortunately, my body couldn't tolerate niraparib (Zejula), whereas I noticed that many of you benefited from taking a PARP inhibitor.  Thus, my recurrence was quite rapid (I guess).

@Soleil ... thank you for sharing your experience with fasting. Wouldn't it be a miracle if it was the source cause of your rapidly declining CA125. Sadly it's not a controlled test however who's to say it's not contributing in some way, shape or form!? I appreciate your comment as well that "one size does not fit all". It is so true. I asked about fasting and my oncologist was not supportive. At the time of my diagnosis in Feb 2024 I had lost a lot of weight so that might have been the contributing factor. I've managed to gain it all back and more 😁. I had to give up food/water for almost 12 hours at one point during my chemo as they had to do some unexpected testing. My body reacted so horribly to that so I'm pretty sure for me, fasting would be a no go. Plus you are correct...why does one body accept the PARB inhibitors and others don't? Our bodies are just giant individualized chemistry sets aren't they.

Regardless the take away for me is that something is working and THAT is a cause for celebration!!!! We are all going to be very interested in your next CA125 reading. May it continue to be in the single digits!!!!

#Healthandwellness #Supportandencouragement