> Ron
> 
> I'm interested in that but don't have access to any of your 
> references.  Can you give a quick summary of what you know 
> about low- carb diets used to treat cancer?
> 
> Ashley

Here is a brief summary: 

The ketogenic diet, as developed at Johns Hopkins in the 1930s to treat
epilepsy, is dominated by fats (70%) and protein (20%) with very small
amounts of carbohydrates (less than 10%). This changes the function of the
pancreas so it produces much more glucagon and much less insulin. Nebling &
Miraldi (1) reported the results of a ketogenic diet in two cases of
advanced brain tumors in children. In both cases sugar uptake by the tumors
was reduced measurably. One of these children stayed on the diet for 12
months during which time the tumor did not grow. 

Magee et al. reported that mice with induced mouse melanoma of the lungs
showed a two-thirds reduction of melanoma resulted from feeding the mice a
ketogenic diet. 

Conyers et. al. reported considerable improvements in a patient with liver
cancer after 8 days in ketosis.  

This is no magic cure. It is a darned difficult diet to follow, and other
publications report more mixed results. (I don't have access to my files
just now so I can't cite sources for this.) In these latter reports, some
patients improved while others did not. Nonetheless, if I was diagnosed with
almost any kind of cancer I would begin a strict ketogenic diet and I would
follow it until I became convinced it was doing no good, or until complete
remission of the cancer.  This is less academic than it may appear, as
cancer is very common in my family. 


Sources: 
1. Nebeling LC, Miraldi F, Shurin SB, Lerner E.  Effects of a ketogenic diet
on tumor metabolism and nutritional status in pediatric oncology patients:
two case reports. J Am Coll Nutr. 1995 Apr;14(2):202-8.  
2. Magee BA, Potezny N, Rofe AM, Conyers RA.  The inhibition of malignant
cell growth by ketone bodies. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1979
Oct;57(5):529-39.  
3. Conyers RAJ, et. al. Nutrition and Cancer. Br. Med J.  1979 April 28;
1(6171): 1146
 
I hope that gives you the information you were looking for. 

Best Wishes, 
Ron