Intermittent fasting with a fasting-mimicking diet to help prostate cancer control and metabolic health
Official title: Intermittent Fasting using a Fasting-Mimetic Diet to Improve Prostate Cancer Control and Metabolic Outcomes
Funded at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center · NIH-11210875 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This tests whether short cycles of a low-calorie, plant-based fasting-mimicking diet can help men with prostate cancer keep cancer control and improve blood sugar, insulin, and body weight.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $102,955 |
| NIH project number | 3R01CA280081-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11210875 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Men with prostate cancer—especially those receiving androgen deprivation therapy or androgen-receptor targeted agents—who can safely follow a short fasting-mimicking diet are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot safely fast, such as those who are underweight, have uncontrolled insulin-dependent diabetes, active eating disorders, or unstable cardiac conditions, may not benefit or may be ineligible.
What this research studies
You would follow cycles where you eat a very low-calorie, plant-based fasting-mimicking diet for about 5 days, then eat as usual for the following weeks while following cancer-survivor nutrition guidance. Researchers will take blood tests (like glucose, insulin, IGF1), track weight and metabolic measures, and monitor cancer status while you are on standard prostate cancer therapies such as androgen deprivation. The approach builds on earlier human and mouse work showing improved metabolic markers and slower tumor growth in animals. Visits and labs are likely conducted at the study site and scheduled around the diet cycles.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could lower treatment-related diabetes risk, improve metabolic health, and possibly slow prostate cancer progression.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier small human trials and animal studies showed favorable changes in insulin, glucose, and IGF1 and delayed tumor progression in mice, but larger clinical confirmation is still needed.
Where this research is happening
-
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Freedland, Stephen Jay — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Freedland, Stephen Jay
Related research
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Intermittent fasting diet to help prostate cancer and metabolic health
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.