# Diet Modification to Augment Radiation for Breast Cancer Brain Metastases

> **NIH NIH R01** · THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $234,000

## Abstract

Abstract of the parent grant
In response to PQ11, “Through what mechanisms do diet and nutritional interventions affect the response to
cancer treatment?,” this proposal will determine that nutrition can be used to improve radiation (RT) response,
improve outcomes and decrease toxicity for breast cancer patients with brain metastases. Breast cancer is the
leading cause of brain metastases in women and is associated with a dismal prognosis despite standard
therapies including radiation or surgical resection. Local control of brain metastases confers better survival and
prevents neurological decline. To try and improve local control, novel targeted therapies have been added to
radiation (RT); most have unfortunately resulted in little improvement while adding significant toxicity. For the
first time, it will be determined if dietary modifications may play a role in the treatment of brain metastases
since one of the hallmarks of both metastases and tumor cell resistance to RT, is the dysregulation of cellular
metabolism. Our long-term goal is to 1) change the landscape of cancer care by empowering patients to use
dietary interventions to improve outcomes, and 2) to use the discoveries from this proposal to translate
findings. The objective of this grant is to determine if radiation efficacy can be increased for metastatic disease
without increasing toxicity, by using dietary manipulation. The central hypothesis is that an integrated
approach, one incorporating dietary changes, will alter key pro-survival pathways in metastatic tumor cells, to
improve local control and, therefore, patient survival. Our specific aims will test the following hypotheses:
(Aim1) Determine the contribution of dietary intervention on radiation effectiveness in treatment of breast
cancer brain metastases; (Aim 2) the IGF-1R/AKT signaling pathway axis is a key node, at least in some part,
in the biological response leading to the proposed molecular cytotoxic cooperation between dietary
modification and RT; (Aim 3) Determine the subset of breast cancer patients with brain metastases that benefit
from combined DMs and RT. This contribution is significant since it will establish that dietary modifications can
target pathways (ie IGF-1R/Akt) to modulate the radiation response and affect a positive clinical change. The
proposed research is innovative because diet has not been used as a “drug” during cancer therapy. This
proposal will provide insight into how dietary modifications can be used to affect the radiation response,
potential toxicity and outcomes in breast cancer patients with brain metastases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10260963
- **Project number:** 3R01CA227479-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicole L Simone
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $234,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10260963

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10260963, Diet Modification to Augment Radiation for Breast Cancer Brain Metastases (3R01CA227479-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10260963. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*