Oat bran may reduce intestinal inflammation from radiation therapy

Editor's note: Cancer Digest does not usually present results of animal studies as our focus is on research that is likely to affect cancer therapy in time to potentially be an option for currently diagnosed patients. However this mouse study involves a dietary intervention that does not face the same lengthy regulatory path of a therapeutic intervention.

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 9, 2020 – A new study challenges the standard advice to avoid high-fiber diet for colorectal cancer patients about to undergo radiation therapy.
"Cancer patients are often advised to follow a restricted fibre diet," says lead author of the new study Dr. Andrea Stringer in a press release. "This is because a diet high in fibre is believed to exacerbate bloating and diarrhea -- both common side effects of radiotherapy. Yet, this advice is not unequivocally evidence-based, with insufficient fibre potentially being counterproductive and exacerbating gastrointestinal toxicity."

In the study conducted at the University of Gothenburg and Lund University in Sweden and University of South Australia researchers compared the effects of 15% oat bran fiber diet and 0%-fiber diet in mice prior to exposure to radiation-induced inflammation.

The researchers analyzed the levels of inflammatory markers in the blood at 1, 6, and 18 weeks after radiation. They found that the no-fiber irradiated mice had significantly higher levels of inflammatory cells than the high-oat irradiated mice at all time points. The results were published in the July 22, 2020 issue of the journal Nutrients.

The results indicate that a fiber-rich oat bran diet reduces the intensity of radiation-induced inflammation, both at an early and late stage. The authors say the results suggest that adjusting fiber levels before radiation therapy might improve long-term, and possibly life-long intestinal health complications among cancer survivors.

Of course, showing such an effect in mice is a long way from seeing the same result in humans. The researchers concluded their report calling for a clinical trial in humans to determine whether patients undergoing radiotherapy might also benefit from a high-fiber diet during treatment.

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Sources: University of South Australia press release and the journal Nutrients