Thomas N. Seyfried received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1976. He did his undergraduate work at the University of New England, where he recently received the distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He also holds a Master’s degree in Genetics from Illinois State University. Thomas Seyfried served with distinction in the United States Army’s First Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War and received numerous medals and commendations. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine and then served on the faculty as an Assistant Professor in Neurology.

Other awards and honours have come from such diverse organisations as the American Oil Chemists Society, the National Institutes of Health, The American Society for Neurochemistry, the Ketogenic Diet Special Interest Group of the American Epilepsy Society, the Academy of Comprehensive and Complementary Medicine, and the American College of Nutrition.

Dr. Seyfried previously served as Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association and presently serves on several editorial boards, including those for Nutrition & Metabolism, Neurochemical Research, the Journal of Lipid Research, and ASN Neuro, where he is a Senior Editor.

Dr. Seyfried has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and is the author of the book, Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer (Wiley, 1st ed., 2012). 

Current cancer research focuses on genetic origins of cancer, and standard treatments generally involve combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. In Cancer as Metabolic Disease, Dr. Thomas Seyfried presents an alternative origin of cancer based on the theories of Otto Warburg, wherein cancer is viewed as a disease of cellular metabolic dysfunction due to damaged mitochondria. In addition to pointing to new directions of research, Dr. Seyfried elaborates on a non toxic mode of treatment, the ketogenic diet, which capitalizes on the inability of the damaged cancer cell mitochondria to metabolize ketones, thus starving them while maintaining healthy cells.

Thomas Seyfried is Professor of Biology at Boston College. He is a senior editor of the American Society of Neurochemistry’s journal ASN Neuro and is on the editorial boards of Journal of Lipid Research, Neurochemical Research and Nutrition & Metabolism.

Emerging evidence indicates that cancer is primarily a metabolic disease involving disturbances in energy production through respiration and fermentation. Cancer is suppressed following transfer of the nucleus from the tumor cell to cytoplasm of normal cells containing normal mitochondria. These findings indicate that nuclear genetic abnormalities cannot be responsible for cancer despite commonly held beliefs in the cancer field. The genomic instability observed in tumor cells and all other recognized hallmarks of cancer are considered downstream epiphenomena of the initial disturbance of cellular energy metabolism. The disturbances in tumor cell energy metabolism can be linked to abnormalities in the structure and function of the mitochondria. Cancer growth and progression can be managed following a whole-body transition from fermentable metabolites, primarily glucose and glutamine, to respiratory metabolites, primarily ketone bodies. This transition will reduce tumor vascularity and inflammation while enhancing tumor cell death. A novel “press-pulse” therapeutic strategy is in development for the non-toxic metabolic management of cancer. Malignant brain cancer in preclinical models and humans will be used to illustrate general concepts. As each individual is a unique metabolic entity, personalization of metabolic therapy as a broadbased cancer treatment strategy will require fine-tuning to match the therapy to an individual’s unique physiology.

Thomas N. Seyfried received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1976. He did his undergraduate work at the University of New England, where he recently received the distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He also holds a Master’s degree in Genetics from Illinois State University. Thomas Seyfried served with distinction in the United States Army’s First Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War and received numerous medals and commendations. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine and then served on the faculty as an Assistant Professor in Neurology. Other awards and honors have come from such diverse organizations as the American Oil Chemists Society, the National Institutes of Health, The American Society for Neurochemistry, and the Ketogenic Diet Special Interest Group of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Seyfried previously served as Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association and presently serves on several editorial boards, including those for Nutrition & Metabolism, Neurochemical Research, the Journal of Lipid Research, and ASN Neuro, where he is a Senior Editor. Dr. Seyfried has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and is the author of the book “Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer (Wiley Press).” 

Can a keto diet eliminate cancer growth? Dr. Thomas Seyfried says yes | TARGET: Cancer Podcast | Ep. 42

In this episode, Dr. Thomas Seyfried discusses metabolic approaches to cancer. Learn how depriving cancer cells of fermentable fuels like glucose and glutamine can starve and kill them. Challenge the genetic disease model and discover the impact of ketosis on mitochondrial health. Uncover the truth about cancer as a metabolic, not genetic, disease. Empower yourself with the knowledge to combat cancer through metabolic strategies and learn about the dangers surrounding us: processed foods.

Thomas Seyfried, Ph.D., is a biochemical geneticist, professor of biology at Boston College, and author of the groundbreaking book Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. As part of a lecture delivered on July 31, 2018, at the annual CrossFit Health Conference, Seyfried presented a report card on our current approaches to treating cancer in the United States. Looking at data from the American Cancer Society on cancer incidence and deaths per day between 2013 and 2017, he noted death rates are actually on the rise. “The more money we raise for cancer, the more cancer we get,” he observed. “So you have to ask, ‘What is going on here?’ ... This is a failure of monumental proportions.”

The reason for the failure “has to do with a fundamental misunderstanding of what the nature of this disease is,” he explained. “We’ve been led to believe that this is a genetic disease, and I’ll present evidence to say that it’s not.”

The belief that cancer is a genetic disease associated with somatic mutation has become dogma, Seyfried explained, and this dogma shaped much of the cancer research and treatment protocols of the twentieth century. So-called cutting-edge treatments, such as personalized therapy and precision medicine, are based on this viewpoint.

Unfortunately, the viewpoint is wrong, as Seyfried explained in “Cancer as a Mitochondrial Metabolic Disease,” an article published in Frontiers in 2015. There, he aggregated existing research on cancer and reevaluated the information in light of the two competing theories on the origin of the disease (i.e., cancer as a genetic or metabolic disease).

The research he surveyed supported Otto Warburg’s theory that cancer develops as a result of disturbed energy metabolism. Seyfried and his colleagues compared nuclear-cytoplasmic transfer and mitochondrial transfer experiments and found that the mitochondria are “calling the shots, not the nucleus,” which is “the opposite of what we would expect if this were a genetic disease,” he explained.

Seyfried then described what he and his colleagues believe is the missing link in Warburg’s theory. Normal healthy cells derive energy from oxidative phosphorylation. Cancer cells, on the other hand, get energy through fermentation. What Seyfried and his colleagues discovered — and what Warburg did not know — is that cancer cells can ferment not only lactic acid but amino acids as well. That is to say, cancer cells can derive energy for proliferation from glucose and glutamine. Thus, to remove a cancer cell’s energy source, one has to remove its access to fermentable fuels, and an effective way to do this, Seyfried found, is through calorie restriction and ketosis.

Calorie restriction and ketosis, he explained, are anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic. “No cancer drug is known that can do this without toxicity,” he said. He then added that those who claim they don’t understand the mechanism by which calorie restriction and ketosis work are full of “bullshit.” “They don’t read the literature. Nor do they contribute to it,” he said.

Seyfried’s cancer research, particularly on aggressive forms of cancer such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and other stage 4 cancers, led to his development of a glucose-ketone index calculator and the press-pulse therapeutic strategy. The calculator helps patients monitor their progress toward therapeutic ketosis. The press-pulse method pairs press therapies, such as following a keto diet while taking ketone supplements and practicing stress management, with pulse therapies, such as taking glucose and glutamine inhibitors while undergoing hyperbaric oxygen treatments. During his presentation, Seyfried explained how and why these methods are more effective for cancer patients than traditional standard of care.

“GBM and other stage 4 cancers — I don’t consider them as terminal cancers,” he said. 

Thomas N. Seyfried is Professor of Biology at Boston College. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1976. He did his undergraduate work at the University of New England where he recently received the distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He also holds a Master’s degree in genetics from Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Thomas Seyfried served with distinction in the United States Army’s First Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War, and received numerous medals and commendations. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine, and then served on the faculty as an Assistant Professor in Neurology. Other awards and honors have come from such diverse organizations as the American Oil Chemists Society, the National Institutes of Health, The American Society for Neurochemistry, and the Ketogenic Diet Special Interest Group of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Seyfried previously served as Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association and presently serves on several editorial boards, including those for Nutrition & Metabolism, Neurochemical Research, the Journal of Lipid Research, and ASN Neuro. Dr. Seyfried has over 170 peer-reviewed publications and is author of the book, Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer (Wiley Press).

Filmed at the Emerging Science of Carbohydrate Restriction and Nutritional Ketosis, Scientific Sessions at The Ohio State University

An impressive body of scientific evidence over the last 15 years documents long term benefits of carbohydrate-restricted, especially ketogenic, diets. We now understand molecular mechanisms and why they work. Popular books and articles now challenge the advice ‘carbohydrates are good and fats are bad.’ Circa mid-19th century urinary ketones were identified in diabetics sealing their toxic label for the next 150 years. Despite work four decades ago showing ketones were highly functional metabolites, they are still misidentified as toxic byproducts of fat metabolism. The vilification of fat by regulatory and popular dogma perpetuates this myth. But the nutrition-metabolic landscape is improving dramatically.

A growing number of researchers have contributed to what is now a critical mass of science that provides compelling clinical evidence that ketogenic diets uniquely benefit weight loss, pre-diabetes, and type-2 diabetes. In the last five years, basic scientists have discovered that b-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the primary circulating ketone, is a potent signaling molecule that decreases inflammation and oxidative stress. BHB has been suggested to be a longevity metabolite, with strong support from recently published mouse studies showing decreased midlife mortality and extended longevity and healthspan. Although type-2 diabetes is often described as a chronic progressive disease, emerging evidence indicates that sustained nutritional ketosis can reverses the disease. There is growing interest in studying potential therapeutic effects of ketosis on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There are even reasons certain athletes may benefit from nutritional ketosis and ketone supplements ─ debunking the long-standing dogma that high carbohydrate intake is required to perform optimally.

With the support of the well-established Ohio State Food Innovation Center, this conference will bring together the top experts in these fields to share what has been achieved and what remains to be done to advance this exciting field of scientific discovery.

In this presentation, Dr. Champ discusses the evidence of the role diet plays in helping us reduce our risk of cancer - from over a hundred years ago to present day. He synthesizes this data to leave the listener with tangible dietary recommendations that are able to be both followed and enjoyed to help lower the risk of cancer. 

Colin Champ M.D. is an oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he practices radiation oncology and integrative medicine, while researching the impact of diet and exercise on cancer incidence and treatment. His work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of Clinical Oncology. Recently, he founded the Cancer Prevention Project, to provide the public with recommendations to help prevent cancer with tangible lifestyle changes.

He began viewing medicine and health with a critical eye during his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he continues to question current medical studies and recommendations for scientific backing. He has an uncanny ability to synthesize complex health topics to make them understandable and entertaining to the common reader and blogs for several online sources including his own website, colinchamp.com. He Is author of Misguided Medicine and Misguided Medicine: Second Edition. He has been invited to present his research around the world and has been featured in many media outlets including the Boston Globe, the National Cancer Institute, the Gupta Guide with Sanjay Gupta, and the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

As educated members of society, we are consistently inundated with conflicting reports when it comes to which foods and activities are healthy or unhealthy – one day wine will help us to live forever like Southern Italians, the next day it will give us cancer. Regardless of the conflicting reports, we have a century of studies indicating which lifestyle activities can prime our body and its cells to fight cancer, and the results are surprisingly inconsistent with much of what we have been told for the past four decades. Interest in the science on the influence of our food and activities to help prevent cancer is undergoing a renaissance, with many of the older unknown studies revisited and confirmed by modern research. Several dietary and lifestyle activities have been shown to enhance our ability to fight cancer: fasting, carbohydrate restriction, high baseline activity levels, resistance training, vegetables teeming with defensive chemicals, and a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic diet have been shown to help prevent cancer in animal and human studies. In this presentation, Dr. Champ discusses the research revealing the impact these lifestyle habits can have in the fight against cancer.

Biography

Colin Champ M.D. is an oncologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where he practices radiation oncology and integrative medicine. He researches the impact of diet and exercise on cancer incidence and treatment and has presented his research around the world. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and has published 45 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine. He founded the Cancer Prevention Project to provide the public with recommendations to help prevent cancer through tangible lifestyle changes.

Dr. Champ began viewing medicine and health with a critical eye during his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he continues to question current medical studies and recommendations for scientific backing. He has an uncanny ability to synthesize complex health topics to make them understandable and entertaining and blogs on his website, colinchamp.com. He is author of the Amazon Bestseller Misguided Medicine: Second Edition and has been featured in many media outlets including the Boston Globe, the National Cancer Institute, the Gupta Guide with Sanjay Gupta, and the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

Unknown to many scientists and practicing physicians, there is nearly a century of data revealing the effect of diet on cancer diagnosis and treatment. More recently, preclinical and clinical data have been confirming this effect. Most notably, the potentiation of radiation therapy and chemotherapy via carbohydrate restriction and intermittent fasting is currently being assessed in clinical trials. Some data has even shown that it may reduce side effects of current cancer treatment. The potential metabolic treatment and management of cancer is an exciting new area in the field of oncology. This presentation will discuss the connection between cancer treatment and diet by highlighting both the historical data and Dr. Champ’s research in the field.

Dr. Champ is a board-certified radiation oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He researches cancer treatment as well as diet and nutrition and has been invited to lecture on the topic around the country and world. He is one of the few physicians invited to present academic Oncology Grand Rounds as a resident, an honor usually reserved for experts after years or decades in the field. While only a resident, he published over 20 peer-reviewed articles, started a health and fitness website and company, and co-hosted a podcast that was top-ranked in the U.S., England, and Australia. He has been featured in the Boston Globe, The Gupta Guide with Sanjay Gupta, the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology newsletter, to name only a few. During his medical training, he created Cavemandoctor.com in an effort to simplify the complex aspects of evidence-based medicine for the common reader. The website quickly gained nearly three million readers. He is considered an energetic voice in the field of medicine as he adamantly emphasizes the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Most importantly, he practices what he preaches by stressing a healthy diet and lifestyle for both his patients and himself.

Colin Champ, MD, is an oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he heads the diet and nutrition division of the Integrative Oncology Department. His research focuses on diet, exercise, and lifestyle optimization for cancer treatment and prevention. His work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and he has been featured by multiple media sources, including the National Institute of Health, Sanjay Gupta’s Gupta Guide on Medpage, and the Boston Globe. He is the author of Misguided Medicine and is an avid online blogger of a range of health-related topics.

Nutritional interventions in conjunction with the standard of care may augment the treatment for some cancers. Researchers have observed synergism between the ketogenic diet and hyperbaric oxygen against tumor cells. Moreover, Dr. D'Agostino suggests that ketosis stimulates the immune system, increasing its ability to detect cancer cells. However, he cautions that some cancer cells can use ketones as fuel, and this domain needs more research. In addition, a ketogenic diet may be designed to incorporate anti-carcinogenic phytonutrients and fiber. In this clip, Dr. Dominic D'Agostino discusses the implications of adding a ketogenic diet to cancer treatment protocols.

Cancer. The word no one wants to hear. A terrifying diagnosis with treatments aptly named "toxic" therapies.

Dr. Angela Poff is a leading researcher investigating revolutionary, non-toxic metabolic therapies for cancer. Ketones are a leading candidate for that role.

How do different types of cancer respond to ketones? How do different types of ketones affect cancer cells? The answers to these questions could revolutionize the way we treat one of the most feared and deadly diseases.

Both ketogenic diets and exogenous ketone therapy show tremendous promise, but the science is still mostly in the pre-clinical stage, meaning non-human studies. Dr. Poff is on the front lines of this important research, helping us make progress toward evidence-based answers.

Dr. David G. Harper is a science educator, researcher, and technology CEO. He holds a BSc. and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in mathematical biofluiddynamics and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in comparative physiology at the University of Cambridge. 

Dr. Harper is currently an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley and a visiting scientist at the BC Cancer Research Center, Terry Fox Laboratory. He is on the scientific advisory board of the Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition and is a member of the Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition.

As a Visiting Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Centre, Terry Fox Lab, his current research focuses on the therapeutic benefits of ketogenic diets for women with metastatic breast cancer. He has just completed a book called BioDiet: The Ketogenic Way to Lose Weight and Improve Health.

What is the best diet for cancer? Published & ongoing research is showing that a ketogenic diet is power for preventing & treating many types of cancer.  

David G. Harper, PhD is a science educator, researcher, and technology CEO. He holds a BSc. and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in mathematical bio-fluid dynamics and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in comparative physiology at the University of Cambridge. He is currently an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley and a visiting scientist at the BC Cancer Research Center, Terry Fox Laboratory. He is on the scientific advisory board of the Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition and is a member of the Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition. As a Visiting Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Centre, Terry Fox Lab, his current research focuses on the therapeutic benefits of ketogenic diets for women with metastatic breast cancer.

     Dr Harper's site:  www.biodiet.org

An impressive body of scientific evidence over the last 15 years documents long term benefits of carbohydrate-restricted, especially ketogenic, diets. We now understand molecular mechanisms and why they work. Popular books and articles now challenge the advice ‘carbohydrates are good and fats are bad.’ Circa mid-19th century urinary ketones were identified in diabetics sealing their toxic label for the next 150 years. Despite work four decades ago showing ketones were highly functional metabolites, they are still misidentified as toxic byproducts of fat metabolism. The vilification of fat by regulatory and popular dogma perpetuates this myth. But the nutrition-metabolic landscape is improving dramatically.

A growing number of researchers have contributed to what is now a critical mass of science that provides compelling clinical evidence that ketogenic diets uniquely benefit weight loss, pre-diabetes, and type-2 diabetes. In the last five years, basic scientists have discovered that b-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the primary circulating ketone, is a potent signaling molecule that decreases inflammation and oxidative stress. BHB has been suggested to be a longevity metabolite, with strong support from recently published mouse studies showing decreased midlife mortality and extended longevity and healthspan. Although type-2 diabetes is often described as a chronic progressive disease, emerging evidence indicates that sustained nutritional ketosis can reverses the disease. There is growing interest in studying potential therapeutic effects of ketosis on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There are even reasons certain athletes may benefit from nutritional ketosis and ketone supplements ─ debunking the long-standing dogma that high carbohydrate intake is required to perform optimally.

With the support of the well-established Ohio State Food Innovation Center, this conference will bring together the top experts in these fields to share what has been achieved and what remains to be done to advance this exciting field of scientific discovery.

Dr. Eugene Fine's research interests include inhibition of aggressive cancers by an insulin inhibiting ketogenic diet-human trials as well as pre-clinical study.  Additionally, he is also interested in coupling dietary interventions with selected cancer drugs.

Dr. Fine's professional interests have centered on: 

Non-invasive measurement of physiologic and molecular function, especially with radiotracer technology. This was applied to the heart and especially to measurement of kidney function and its role and contribution to hypertension; and more recently has focused on radiotracers for diagnosis, monitoring, prognosis, and identification of cancers for appropriate therapy. 

The effects of dietary and nutritional manipulation, and especially of reducing carbohydrate content, on altering our metabolic environment. Carbohydrate restriction in humans mimics many of the metabolic effects of fasting, and may be systematically studied using appropriate in vitro, cell culture, animal models and in vivo biochemical and radiotracer techniques. Of particular interest is the potential for differential systemic metabolic effects on normal compared to malignant/transformed cells.

2nd Annual Conference on Nutritional Ketosis and Metabolic Therapeutics 

February 2017, Tampa, FL

An impressive body of scientific evidence over the last 15 years documents long term benefits of carbohydrate-restricted, especially ketogenic, diets. We now understand molecular mechanisms and why they work. Popular books and articles now challenge the advice ‘carbohydrates are good and fats are bad.’ Circa mid-19th century urinary ketones were identified in diabetics sealing their toxic label for the next 150 years. Despite work four decades ago showing ketones were highly functional metabolites, they are still misidentified as toxic byproducts of fat metabolism. The vilification of fat by regulatory and popular dogma perpetuates this myth. But the nutrition-metabolic landscape is improving dramatically.

A growing number of researchers have contributed to what is now a critical mass of science that provides compelling clinical evidence that ketogenic diets uniquely benefit weight loss, pre-diabetes, and type-2 diabetes. In the last five years, basic scientists have discovered that b-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the primary circulating ketone, is a potent signaling molecule that decreases inflammation and oxidative stress. BHB has been suggested to be a longevity metabolite, with strong support from recently published mouse studies showing decreased midlife mortality and extended longevity and healthspan. Although type-2 diabetes is often described as a chronic progressive disease, emerging evidence indicates that sustained nutritional ketosis can reverses the disease. There is growing interest in studying potential therapeutic effects of ketosis on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There are even reasons certain athletes may benefit from nutritional ketosis and ketone supplements ─ debunking the long-standing dogma that high carbohydrate intake is required to perform optimally.

With the support of the well-established Ohio State Food Innovation Center, this conference will bring together the top experts in these fields to share what has been achieved and what remains to be done to advance this exciting field of scientific discovery.

The UCSF Sheri Sobrato Brisson Brain Cancer Survivorship Program presents 'The Ketogenic Diet' as part of an ongoing Living Well Webinar series for brain tumor survivors. 

This recorded webinar features UCSF veteran dietician Natalie Ledesma, and Chad Findlay who speaks from his personal perspective using the ketogenic diet in his brain tumor recovery as an empowering adjunct to his standard treatment.

To learn more about UCSF's support programs for brain tumor patients and their families, visit https://braintumorcenter.ucsf.edu