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This clinical trial aims to evaluate whether a ketogenic diet (KD), when combined with immunotherapy, can improve immune function and treatment outcomes in patients with advanced melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), or renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Why Is This Study Important? Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment, but not all patients respond well. Research suggests that diet, particularly a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, may help boost the immune system and make treatments more effective.
What Will This Study Examine?
Researchers want to understand:
Is the ketogenic diet well-tolerated for cancer patients? Does the diet improve immune responses and treatment effectiveness?
How Will the Study Work?
Participants will be placed into one of two groups:
Ketogenic Diet (KD) Group: A structured high-fat, low-carb diet (intermittent schedule: 2 weeks on, 1 week off).
Standard Diet (SD) Group: A typical diet with no major changes. Throughout the study, a dietitian will closely support and guide you. Both groups will continue their standard immunotherapy treatment.
What Will Participants Do? Write their food intake three times a week to help assess dietary adherence Follow their assigned diet for 10 weeks Have weekly check-ins with a dietitian (in-person at the hospital or via phone) Have weekly blood glucose and ketone level checks using a home device. Provide monthly blood samples to measure immune response during routine immunotherapy infusions Provide stool samples for gut microbiome analysis at the start and end of the study Measure Monthly Weight, body composition, and resting calorie burn Complete quality-of-life questionnaires
What Are the Potential Benefits? Improved response to immunotherapy Better understanding of how diet influences cancer treatment Potential for a new supportive strategy for cancer care
This study may help uncover ways to enhance cancer treatment through personalized nutrition.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ketogenic Diet (KD) Group: A high-fat, low-carb diet (intermittent schedule: 2 weeks on,1 week off)) | Experimental | Seven days (±2 days) before first dose of immunotherapy, patients will receive instructions to follow KD. The KD composition: 5-10% of the calories from carbohydrate, 20-30% protein and 60-70% fat. No calorie restriction will be applied, and patients will be instructed to eat to satiety. Supplemental MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil or /and ketocal powder (Nutricia) will be added at the dietician's discretion in order to promote ketone production. During the period off the KD, the participants will be instructed to gradually follow standard diet composition (50-60% of the calories from carbohydrate, 15-20% protein and 20-30% fat). Diet protocol will be given to the patient along with specific menu suggestions for each individual. |
|
| Standard Diet (SD) Group: A typical diet with no major changes. | No Intervention |
| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ketogenic diet | Dietary Supplement | Ketogenic Diet as an Adjunct to Immunotherapy: Unlike many trials focused on chemotherapy or targeted therapies, this study specifically investigates the synergistic effects of the ketogenic diet with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), a promising approach for enhancing immunotherapy efficacy. The diet's high-fat, low-carbohydrate regimen is designed to shift metabolism towards ketone bodies and fatty acid utilization, potentially modulating immune responses and tumor immunogenicity in a way that standard diets do not. |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Participants Adhering to the Ketogenic Diet and Experiencing Treatment-Related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v5.0 | This measure will assess the feasibility and tolerability of the ketogenic diet (KD) in cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy by evaluating: Diet Adherence: The number of participants who maintain KD for at least 80% of the study duration, based on dietary intake logs and ketone level measurements. Tolerability: The number of participants experiencing treatment-related adverse events (AEs), as assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0. The severity and frequency of AEs will be documented and categorized. | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks |
| Change in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC) Composition at Baseline, During, and Post-Intervention | This measure will evaluate changes in immune cell composition in response to the ketogenic diet (KD) and immunotherapy. PBMC Composition: Assessed using cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) to characterize shifts in immune cell subsets (e.g., T cells, natural killer cells, monocytes). Data Analysis: Changes from the baseline will be reported as absolute values and fold-changes over time. | Monthly (week 0, 4, 10 ±1 week). |
| Serum Cytokine Levels at Baseline, During, and Post-Intervention | This measure will evaluate changes in cytokine levels in response to the ketogenic diet (KD) and immunotherapy. Serum Cytokine Levels: Quantified using multiplex immunoassays to measure the concentrations of key cytokines, such as IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10. Data Analysis: Changes from baseline will be reported as absolute values and fold-changes over time. | Monthly (week 0, 4, 10 ±1 week). |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Overall response rate according to RECIST v1. | End of treatment at 10 weeks | |
| Adherence to Dietary Interventions - Ketone Level Measurements | Ketone Level Measurements: Ketone levels will be measured to assess whether participants are in a state of ketosis (>0.3 Mm), indicating adherence to the ketogenic diet. Data Analysis: Ketone levels will be analyzed to determine adherence to the ketogenic diet. |
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Inclusion Criteria:
• Males and females, age >= 18 years
Patients with a histologically confirmed melanoma or cSCC or RCC receiving first line treatment with combination nivolumab and ipilimumab /relatlimab or single agent ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, Cemiplimab.
Able to read, understand, and provide written informed consent
Willing and able to complete all study-specific procedures and visits
Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤2.
Blood tests:
Exclusion Criteria:
• Individuals < 18 years of age
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| Name | Role | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keren Porper, M.Sc | Contact | 97239377990 | kerenporper83@gmail.com |
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| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabin Medical Center | Petah Tikva | Israel |
| PubMed Identifier | Type | Citation | Retractions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background | 1. Ribas A, Wolchok JD. Cancer immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade. Science. 2018;359(6382):1350-1355. 2. Hargadon KM, Johnson CE, Williams CJ. Immune checkpoint blockade therapy for cancer: An overview of FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitors. Int Immunopharmacol. 2018;62:29-39. 3. Haslam A, Prasad V. Estimation of the percentage of US patients with cancer who are eligible for and respond to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy drugs. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(5):e192535. 4. Golonko A, Pienkowski T, Swislocka R. Dietary factors and their influence on immunotherapy strategies in oncology: A comprehensive review. Cell Death Dis. 2024;15:254. 5. Weber DD, Aminzadeh-Gohari S, Tulipan J, Feichtinger RG. Ketogenic diet in cancer therapy. Aging (Albany NY). 2020;12(3):6018. 6. Klement RJ. The emerging role of ketogenic diets in cancer treatment. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2017;20(1):28-34. 7. Harel M, Ortenberg R, Varanasi SK, Mangalhara KC, Mardamshina M, Markovits E, et al. Proteomics of melanoma response to immunotherapy reveals mitochondrial dependence. Cell. 2019;179:236-250.e218. 8. Ferrere G, Tidjani Alou M, Liu P, Goubet AG, Fidelle M, Kepp O, et al. Ketogenic diet and ketone bodies enhance the anticancer effects of PD-1 blockade. JCI Insight. 2021;6(2):e145207. 9. Jiang T, Zhou C, Ren S. Role of IL-2 in cancer immunotherapy. Oncoimmunology. 2016;5(6):e1163462. 10. Erickson N, Boscheri A, Linke B, Huebner J. Systematic review: Isocaloric ketogenic dietary regimes for cancer patients. Med Oncol. 2017;34(5):72. 11. Woolf EC, Curley KL, Liu Q, Scheck AC. The ketogenic diet alters the hypoxic response and affects expression of proteins associated with angiogenesis, invasive potential, and vascular permeability in a mouse glioma model. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0130357. 12. Weber DD, Aminzadeh-Gohari S, Tulipan J, Catalano L, Feichtinger RG, Kofler B. Ketogenic diet in the treatment of cancer - Where do we stand? Mol Metab. 2020;33:102-121. 13. Lussier DM, Woolf EC, Johnson JL, Brooks KS, Blattman JN, Scheck AC. Enhanced immunity in a mouse model of malignant glioma is mediated by a therapeutic ketogenic diet. BMC Cancer. 2016;16:310. 14. Rom-Jurek EM, Kirchhammer N, Ugocsai P, Ortmann O, Wege AK, Brockhoff G. Regulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in breast cancer cell lines in vitro and in immunodeficient and humanized tumor mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2018;19:563. 15. Husain Z, Huang Y, Seth P, Sukhatme VP. Tumor-derived lactate modifies antitumor immune response: Effect on myeloid-derived suppressor cells and NK cells. J Immunol. 2013;191:1486-1495. 16. Weber DD, Aminzadeh-Gohari S, Thapa M, Kofler B, Feichtinger RG. Ketogenic diets slow melanoma growth in vivo regardless of tumor genetics and metabolic plasticity. Cancer Metab. 2022;10:12. 17. Russo E, Nannini G, Amedei A. Exploring the food-gut axis in immunotherapy response of cancer patients. World J Gastroenterol. 2020;26(33):4919-4932. 18. Verhoog S, Taneri PE, Roa Diaz ZM, Marques-Vidal P, Troup JP, Bally L, et al. Dietary factors and modulation of bacteria strains of Akkermansia muciniphila and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii: A systematic review. Nutrients. 2019;11:1565. 19. Murphy S, Rahmy S, Gan D, Gao Y, Jiang H, Alves MR, et al. Ketogenic diet alters the epigenetic and immune landscape of prostate cancer to overcome resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Cancer Res. 2024;84(10):1597-1612. 20. Zhang Y, Kurupati R, Liu L, Zhou XY, Zhang G, Hudaihed A, et al. Enhancing CD8(+) T cell fatty acid catabolism within a metabolically challenging tumor microenvironment increases the efficacy of melanoma immunotherapy. Cancer Cell. 2017;32:377-391.e379. 21. NutRatio.com NutRatio [Internet]. [cited 2022 Nov 24]. Available from: https://nutratio.com/ 22. Römer M, Dörfler J, Huebner J. The use of ketogenic diets in cancer patients: A systematic review. Clin Exp Med. 2021;21(4):501-536 |
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Single-center, open-label, prospective, non-randomized, controlled, sequential two-arm clinical trial
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|
| Weekly from Baseline (Week 0) to Week 10 |
| Change in Body Weight (kg) Over the Study Period | Body weight (in kilograms) will be measured using a calibrated digital scale at specified time points. Changes from baseline will be reported as absolute weight differences and percentage change | Baseline (Week 0), Week 4, Week 10, and Week 14 (±1 week). |
| Change in Quality of Life Score Assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) | Quality of life will be assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, a validated tool for measuring cancer patients' health-related quality of life. The EORTC QLQ-C30 consists of 30 items, evaluating functional scales (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, and social functions), symptom scales (fatigue, pain, nausea/vomiting, etc.), and global health status. Scores range from 0 to 100. Higher scores on functional and global health scales indicate better quality of life. Higher scores on symptom scales indicate greater symptom burden (worse outcome). Changes from baseline to Week 10 will be reported as mean score differences. | At enrollment (Baseline, Week 0) and at the end of treatment (Week 10). |
| Fecal microbiome | Such as, but not limited to, 16S analysis | At enrollment (baseline) and at the end of treatment at 10 weeks |
| Sarcopenia | Assessed using CT scans of the axial L3 sections and customized software | At enrollment (baseline) and at the end of treatment at 10 weeks |
| Body composition-- Fat Mass and Lean Mass | This measure will assess changes in body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Fat Mass(kg) and Lean Mass (kg): Body composition will be assessed using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) to measure fat mass(kg) and lean mass(kg). Data Analysis: Changes in fat mass and lean mass will be reported as absolute values and fold-changes over time. | Monthly (week 0, 4, 10 ±1 week). |
| Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) | Measured by indirect calorimeter - Q-NRG | Monthly (week 0, 4, 10 ±1 week). |
| The Rate of immune-related adverse events | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D009369 | Neoplasms |
| D008545 | Melanoma |
| D002292 | Carcinoma, Renal Cell |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D018358 | Neuroendocrine Tumors |
| D017599 | Neuroectodermal Tumors |
| D009373 | Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal |
| D009370 | Neoplasms by Histologic Type |
| D009380 | Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue |
| D018326 | Nevi and Melanomas |
| D012878 | Skin Neoplasms |
| D009371 | Neoplasms by Site |
| D012871 | Skin Diseases |
| D017437 | Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases |
| D000230 | Adenocarcinoma |
| D002277 | Carcinoma |
| D009375 | Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial |
| D007680 | Kidney Neoplasms |
| D014571 | Urologic Neoplasms |
| D014565 | Urogenital Neoplasms |
| D052776 | Female Urogenital Diseases |
| D005261 | Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications |
| D000091642 | Urogenital Diseases |
| D007674 | Kidney Diseases |
| D014570 | Urologic Diseases |
| D052801 | Male Urogenital Diseases |
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| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D055423 | Diet, Ketogenic |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D050528 | Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted |
| D004035 | Diet Therapy |
| D044623 | Nutrition Therapy |
| D013812 | Therapeutics |
| D004032 | Diet |
| D009747 | Nutritional Physiological Phenomena |
| D000066888 | Diet, Food, and Nutrition |
| D010829 | Physiological Phenomena |
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