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The only randomised trial of a ketogenic diet in brain tumours found no benefit. Patients could follow the diet and their ketone levels rose, but progression came just as quickly.
50 patients were randomised 1:1. The intervention was feasible and safe: glucose fell and ketones rose as intended, and the diet was well tolerated over nine days. Progression-free survival at 6 months, the primary endpoint, did not differ (20% vs 16%; median PFS 3.2 vs 3.4 months), nor did overall survival (median 11.1 vs 10.5 months). The trial is small and the dietary exposure brief, so it cannot exclude a benefit from sustained ketosis; equally, longer feasibility studies (KETOCAN, modified Atkins with standard chemoradiation) show adherence declining by three months. Together they define the current state: ketogenic diets in glioma are feasible, unproven, and widely promoted to patients as if they were not.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
50 enrolled.
| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progression-free survival at 6 monthsprimary | Ketogenic diet + fasting | 25 | 20% | - | - | link |
| Standard diet | 25 | 16% |
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