Shorter fasts might boost the risk of cancer recurrence in breast cancer patients, new findings suggest. That means women recovering from breast cancer should think twice before reaching for a midnight snack.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego found evidence suggesting that fasting less than 13 hours per night substantially increased the risk of breast cancer recurrence in patients suffering from early-stage breast cancer.
Lead researcher Ruth Patterson and her team said the latest findings support previous research on mice linking longer fasting to greater protection against abnormal glucose metabolism, inflammation and weight gain. Researchers said the latest findings are important because weight gain, inflammation and impaired glucose metabolism have all been linked to poor cancer outcomes.
After examining data of 2,413 women with early-stage breast cancer between the ages of 27 and 70, researchers linked fasting less than 13 hours a night to a 36 percent higher risk of breast cancer recurrence compared to fasting 13 or more hours a night.
Participants in the study were on average 52 years old and had an average fasting duration of 12.5 hours a night.
While fasting less than 13 hours was associated with higher risk of breast cancer recurrence, the study revealed that shorter fasting was not associated with higher risk of death from breast cancer or other causes.
"Our study introduces a novel dietary intervention strategy and indicates that prolonging the length of the nightly fasting interval could be a simple and feasible strategy to reduce breast cancer recurrence," said researchers. "In this cohort of patients with early-stage breast cancer, a longer nightly fasting interval was also associated with significantly lower concentrations of HbA1c and longer sleep duration.
"Given the associations of nightly fasting with glycemic control and sleep, we hypothesize that interventions to prolong the nightly fasting interval could potentially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other cancers," said researchers. "Thus, findings from this study have broad and significant implications for public health."
Rsearchers concluded that "prolonging the length of the nightly fasting interval may be a simple, nonpharmacologic strategy for reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence" since "improvements in glucoregulation and sleep may be mechanisms linking nightly fasting with breast cancer prognosis."
The findings were published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
