It’s no secret that diet and nutrition contribute greatly to our health. But how can dietary or nutritional changes help people who are living with certain illnesses? In the past, preclinical research suggests that a relationship existed between this cancer and the microbiome. According to an article in Healio, researchers recently explored the impact of a plant-based diet for those living with multiple myeloma.
In the study, which was published in Clinical Cancer Research, the research team lays out how dietary changes could improve multiple myeloma outcomes and contribute to sustained minimal residual disease negativity. Minimal residual disease negativity means that patients have less than one myeloma cell per million bone marrow cells following treatment. Learn more about minimal residual disease activity in multiple myeloma here.
The research team found that:
- Patients with higher butyrate and alpha diversity in their stool had stronger sustained minimal residual disease negativity. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that is found in legumes, fruits, nuts, and whole grains.
- Minimal residual disease negativity was sustained through higher and healthier dietary proteins from plants, butyrate, and seafood. A diet high in antioxidants also improved outcomes.
More research is needed to determine how the gut microbiome could contribute to better multiple myeloma disease control. However, these results are promising and highlight how dietary changes could potentially alter how patients respond to treatment.
Multiple Myeloma: An Overview
Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer that develops in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Normally, plasma cells fight infections within the body. But in multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells build up in the bone marrow, crowding and pushing out healthy cells. These cancerous cells also produce high levels of M proteins, or abnormal antibodies. While the exact cause of multiple myeloma is unclear, many myeloma cells are missing some or all of chromosome 13. Symptoms of multiple myeloma can, but do not always, include:
- Anemia (low red blood cell count)
- Appetite loss
- Mental confusion or fogginess
- Renal insufficiency (poor kidney function)
- Bone pain, particularly in the chest and spine
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Unintentional weight loss
- Frequent or recurrent infections
- Numbness or weakness in the legs
- Excessive thirst
- Hypercalcemia (high blood calcium levels)
Treatment options include immunomodulatory drugs, chemotherapy, HDAC inhibitors, steroids, and proteasome inhibitors.
