Could a High-Fat diet help fight brain cancer?

NCT ID NCT05708352

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

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

Phase 2

Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.

Participants

About 170 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jun 2023

Expected to finish

Sep 2029

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

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

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

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

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.

  1. The places running it

    4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. 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

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

    RECRUITING

    Los Angeles, California, 90048, United States

  • Duke University

    RECRUITING

    Durham, North Carolina, 27705, United States

  • Medical College of Wisconsin

    WITHDRAWN

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53226, United States

  • Pacific Neuroscience Institute / Saint John's Cancer Institute

    RECRUITING

    Santa Monica, California, 90404, United States

  • University of California, San Francisco

    RECRUITING

    San Francisco, California, 94143, United States

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