Could a High-Fat diet help fight brain cancer?
NCT ID NCT05708352
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 06, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether a ketogenic (high-fat, low-carb) diet can help people with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, live longer. About 170 adults will be randomly assigned to either a ketogenic diet or standard dietary guidance, while all receive standard cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. The diet lasts 18 weeks, and researchers will track survival and quality of life.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 170 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2023
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Adults 18 years or older * Newly diagnosed glioblastoma (Within 2 months of initial diagnosis by histopathology) * Not started standard of care chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy for glioblastoma * Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥ 70 * Ability to read, write and understand either English OR Spanish * Written informed consent obtained from subject and ability for subject to comply with the requirements of the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with recurrent glioblastoma * Genetic disorders that affect lipid metabolism. Including but not limited to pyruvate carboxylase deficiency, porphyria, primary carnitine deficiency, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I or II deficiency, carnitine translocase deficiency, beta-oxidation defects * Inability to wean steroids below 8mg dexamethasone / day or equivalent * Body Mass Index (BMI) \< 21kg/m2, unless the site Principal Investigator deems safe * Currently pregnant or nursing * Patients receiving other experimental therapy Note: Off-label therapy use is permitted * Comorbidities that in the opinion of the investigator limit the patient's ability to complete the study * Food preferences incompatible with keto diet * Using a pacemaker, implantable cardiac defibrillator, neurostimulator, cochlear implants (removable hearing aids permitted), or other electronic medical equipment, unless the site Principal Investigator deems safe * Inability to participant in standard of care MRIs
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
RECRUITINGLos Angeles, California, 90048, United States
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Duke University
RECRUITINGDurham, North Carolina, 27705, United States
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Medical College of Wisconsin
WITHDRAWNMilwaukee, Wisconsin, 53226, United States
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Pacific Neuroscience Institute / Saint John's Cancer Institute
RECRUITINGSanta Monica, California, 90404, United States
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University of California, San Francisco
RECRUITINGSan Francisco, California, 94143, United States
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