Time-restricted eating in cancer prevention and survivorship
Time-restricted eating means eating within a window of 8-12 hours a day and fasting overnight. It improves blood sugar and weight a little; whether it changes cancer risk or recurrence is unknown.
An analysis of the WHEL cohort (JAMA Oncology 2016) found that breast cancer survivors fasting fewer than 13 hours overnight had a higher risk of recurrence (HR 1.36), which launched interest in time-restricted eating (TRE). Randomised trials in people with obesity show modest weight loss (1-4%) and improved glycaemic markers, with little extra benefit over calorie restriction alone. In oncology, feasibility trials in breast and prostate cancer survivors show high adherence and reductions in insulin and weight; no trial has a cancer endpoint. TRE is simple, cheap and low-risk for people without cachexia, which makes it attractive for pragmatic prevention trials, but the recurrence signal remains observational.
How it works
Aligning food intake with the circadian day and extending the nightly fast lowers nocturnal glucose and insulin and improves metabolic flexibility, hypothetically reducing growth signalling to residual cancer cells.
- High adherence compared with calorie counting
- Improves metabolic markers
- Cheap, scalable
- Cancer outcomes purely observational
- Weight loss modest
- Unsuitable in cachexia or on some drug schedules
Latest papers
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Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaTreat insomnia in survivors and measure whether the cancer notices
Shares Chronotherapy: timing treatment to the body clock, Circadian control, Structured exercise programmes after curative treatment, Survivorship and late effects are neglected.
- TechnologySleep and circadian interventions in cancer
Shares Chronotherapy: timing treatment to the body clock, Circadian control, Survivorship and late effects are neglected, Prostate cancer.
- TechnologyMediterranean and plant-forward dietary patterns
Shares WHEL (Women's Healthy Eating and Living), Glycaemic index and glycaemic load, Energy balance, Prevention we already have is not deployed.
- IdeaA dose-finding trial for exercise after cancer
Shares Energy balance, Structured exercise programmes after curative treatment, Survivorship and late effects are neglected, Prevention we already have is not deployed.
- TechnologyDietitian-led weight-loss programmes in HR-positive breast cancer
Shares WHEL (Women's Healthy Eating and Living), Energy balance, Structured exercise programmes after curative treatment, Survivorship and late effects are neglected.
- IdeaPay for supervised exercise the way we pay for drugs
Shares Structured exercise programmes after curative treatment, Survivorship and late effects are neglected, Prostate cancer, HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.
- IdeaSexual health assessed and treated as a standard toxicity domain
Shares Survivorship and late effects are neglected, Prostate cancer, HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer, Colorectal cancer.
- TrialCHALLENGE (CCTG CO.21)
Shares Energy balance, Structured exercise programmes after curative treatment, Survivorship and late effects are neglected, Prevention we already have is not deployed.