Starve a tumour - Just a little of what you fancy could save your life

EATING less might help prevent or delay the development of cancer.

This tantalising conclusion comes from a theoretical study based on the idea that fast-growing cancer cells need more calories to survive than healthy ones. So far, there have been no clinical trials to show if it works.

Obesity and eating an unhealthy diet are thought to raise people's risk of developing cancer. David Eichler of Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, Israel, decided to investigate whether limiting the amount of food you eat to only what is necessary could have a direct effect on cancer cells.

He developed a mathematical model that simulates how cell populations grow when they have to compete for a limited supply of energy. Under such conditions, normal cells multiply more slowly, he found. But fast-growing abnormal cells of the kind that are often found in some cancers died off. Such cells require a disproportionate ...