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Short-term fasting around chemotherapy may improve outcomes for women with advanced ovarian cancer
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Women who fasted for 36 hours before chemo and 24 hours after had a stronger tumor response.
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Researchers suspect that fasting may help lower insulin levels
MONDAY, June 1, 2026 (NewsDay News) — A simple change in what you eat may help improve outcomes for women with the most common and aggressive form of ovarian cancer. to read suggests.
“Despite advances in surgery and chemotherapy, advanced patients ovarian cancer Still facing poor outcomes,” said the study’s author Claudia Marchetti Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation in Rome. “This (study) highlights the urgent need for safe, cost-effective and easily implemented strategies that can increase the effectiveness of treatment and improve patient prognosis.”
Researchers tested short-term fasting in 36 women with stage 3 or stage 4 ovarian cancer who were receiving chemotherapy before surgery.
Patients were assigned to continue their normal diet or to fast for 36 hours before chemotherapy and 24 hours after each treatment.
Results: Women who fasted were more likely to experience a severe tumor response to chemotherapy. They also went longer without their cancer progressing – 38 months, compared to 24 months for women who ate normally.
Researchers think that fasting helps reduce insulin, a hormone that can send signals to cancer cells to grow and survive.
In this study, insulin increased in the control group but decreased in the fasting group.
Women with advanced ovarian cancer still face dire outcomes, Marchetti said, highlighting the “urgent need” for safe, cost-effective strategies that can help improve treatment response.
Researchers continue to study how fasting affects the body, the immune system, and the response to chemotherapy. Larger clinical trials are planned.
The findings are to be presented in Chicago at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It ends on June 2.
Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more information ovarian cancer.
SOURCE: Health Day TVJune 1, 2026
What does this mean for you?
Short-term fasting before and after chemotherapy may help improve treatment response and delay cancer progression in women with ovarian cancer.
