When Urvi Shah was a hematology-oncology fellow she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer affecting the lymph system that is vital for a healthy immune response. Shah received four months of intense chemotherapy that cured the disease, but she wondered what role, if any, diet played in eradicating her cancer.
“I heard plenty of recommendations from friends and family about what I should and shouldn’t eat, and I realized that we don’t learn anything about the role of nutrition in healing in medical school,” says Shah. “As a patient, I wanted to feel empowered to do something to support my health.”
Intrigued by the evidence that high fiber plant foods reduce cancer incidence and risk of recurrence, Shah refocused her research on modifiable risk factors for cancer, including nutrition, obesity, diabetes, and the microbiome. Now a myeloma specialist and assistant professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Shah is spearheading four dietary intervention studies (NUTRIVENTION trials) to provide nutrition guidance for cancer patients.
Shah’s work is part of a growing body of research suggesting that a constellation of metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides—which affect more than 40 percent of Americans—could be a key driver in the onset and progression of many cancers. There’s even a medical term—metabolic syndrome—to describe people who have three or more of these conditions. The incidence of this syndrome has been trending upward for decades and the western diet combined with an inactive lifestyle are largely to blame.
Over-indulging in alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and fat-laden foods, and spending most of your time on the couch or seated at a desk, produces an inflammatory response that leads to DNA damage over time. Unfortunately, the more damaged your DNA, the more likely normal cells are to become cancerous.
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