Clinical trial · Interventional
Is Dietary Nitrate Effective in Reducing Aerobic Glycolysis in Breast Cancer?
Is Dietary Nitrate Effective in Reducing Aerobic Glycolysis (AG) in Breast Cancer? - A Longitudinal Study Using Specialist Magnetic Resonance (MR) Methods
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer affecting women, with 1 in 8 women in the UK developing breast cancer in their life time. Chemotherapy drugs, currently used for locally advanced breast cancers, are associated with side effects while dietary supplements have complex effects with a relatively small effect size. Breast tumours have different metabolism compared to healthy tissue, including elevated lactate production by aerobic glycolysis (AG), an underpinning feature of metabolism in breast cancer cells. Dietary nitrate, contained in leafy green vegetables and beetroot, has been shown to improve energy efficiency in exercising skeletal muscle, positioning itself as a disruptor of AG. The purpose of this study is to examine if dietary nitrate can disrupt AG and as a result to halt or even reverse tumour progression and survival. This study will look at scans of breast tumours using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Changes to tumour related biochemical substances will be measured by advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy and changes to tissue structure will be measured by advanced diffusion MRI techniques. In this study, 16 patients undergoing surgery will be recruited for two MRI scans following a 5 day intervention programme.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malignant Breast Tissue Neoplasm | Breast Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beetroot juice | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Beetroot
- description
- 16 patients confirmed with a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma who will undergo wide local excision surgery or mastectomy. All patients in the single arm will undergo a 5 day intervention drinking concentrated beetroot juice and 2 magnetic resonance imaging scan sessions pre and post intervention. MRI scan sessions will be composed of research scans including diffusion and lipid profiling MR imaging methods and MR spectroscopy (MRS) methods.
- interventionNames
- Dietary Supplement: Beetroot juice
Primary outcomes (6)
- measure
- Baseline: Lipid composition in tumour
- timeFrame
- Scan one day before intervention (Day 0)
- description
- Lipid peak volume with units of ratio
- measure
- Post intervention: Lipid composition in tumour
- timeFrame
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with pathologically confirmed invasive ductal carcinoma (Grade 2 or 3) * Undergoing wide local excision surgery or mastectomy Exclusion Criteria: * Started hormone or chemotherapy treatment before recruitment. * Undergoing treatment for concurrent cancer diagnosis. * Taking antibiotics, proton pump or vegetable dietary supplement.
References
Publications (6)
- BACKGROUNDGraham LJ, Shupe MP, Schneble EJ, Flynt FL, Clemenshaw MN, Kirkpatrick AD, Gallagher C, Nissan A, Henry L, Stojadinovic A, Peoples GE, Shumway NM. Current approaches and challenges in monitoring treatment responses in breast cancer. J Cancer. 2014 Jan 5;5(1):58-68. doi: 10.7150/jca.7047. PMID 24396498
- BACKGROUNDBaker J, Ajani J, Scotte F, Winther D, Martin M, Aapro MS, von Minckwitz G. Docetaxel-related side effects and their management. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2009 Feb;13(1):49-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2008.10.003. Epub 2009 Feb 7. PMID 19201649
- BACKGROUNDGatenby RA, Gillies RJ. Why do cancers have high aerobic glycolysis? Nat Rev Cancer. 2004 Nov;4(11):891-9. doi: 10.1038/nrc1478. PMID 15516961
- BACKGROUNDJones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation and exercise performance. Sports Med. 2014 May;44 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S35-45. doi: 10.1007/s40279-014-0149-y. PMID 24791915
- BACKGROUNDMcMahon NF, Leveritt MD, Pavey TG. The Effect of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Endurance Exercise Performance in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2017 Apr;47(4):735-756. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0617-7. PMID 27600147
- BACKGROUNDBentley R, Gray SR, Schwarzbauer C, Dawson D, Frenneaux M, He J. Dietary nitrate reduces skeletal muscle oxygenation response to physical exercise: a quantitative muscle functional MRI study. Physiol Rep. 2014 Jul 22;2(7):e12089. doi: 10.14814/phy2.12089. Print 2014 Jul 1. PMID 25052493