A team of Canada-based researchers has found indications that eating certain food often typecast as unhealthy can lead to better responses to cancer treatment.
Published in the scientific journal Nature, the McGill University findings suggest that some meals considered fattening could affect the gut microbiome in ways that improve responses to immunotherapy.
"Our findings were surprising because they highlighted a benefit of some obesogenic diets (those that promote excessive weight gain)," said Daniela Quail, associate professor at McGill’s Department of Physiology.
But rather than having patients eat fatty foods, scientists hope to pinpoint beneficial compounds produced by the gut microbiome so they can replicate benefits safely in future therapies.
McGill pointed out that while obesity is generally associated with higher cancer incidence and mortality, there are indications that cancer patients who have a high body mass index (BMI) "often respond better to immune checkpoint inhibitors."
"The relationship between diet and cancer treatment is more complex than a simple message to eat healthy and exercise,” explained Quail, who is also principal investigator at the Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute.
"There is renewed interest in tailoring diet to reduce cancer risk and improve treatment outcomes as part of personalised medicine,” the team said in their paper.
Quail and colleagues cautioned that the apparent obesity paradox does not mean people should assume a high-fat diet is healthy.
They called for follow-up research to investigate how fats, the gut and illness interact and how treatments might be improved.
In 2025, a team of Lund University researchers published findings suggesting that high-fat cheese could reduce the likelihood of dementia.
Earlier this year, University of Reading scientists pointed out the difference between naturally occurring trans fats in dairy and far less healthy processed variants.
Other research has found that plant-based alternatives struggle to come close to the nutritional value of whole dairy. – dpa
