Long-Term Dietary Changes and Mortality among Participants of a Whole Food Plant-Based Pilot Study for Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Authors

Thomas M Campbell, Erin K Campbell, Lisa M Blanchard, Nellie Wixom, Kevin M Spath, Luke J Peppone

Published in

Current developments in nutrition. Volume 10. Issue 7. Pages 109405. Epub Jun 20, 2026.

Abstract

There are limited data on dietary interventions among women with metastatic breast cancer. We previously conducted a feasibility trial of a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet in 32 women with metastatic breast cancer randomly divided 2:1 to WFPB (n = 21) or control (n = 11). The 8-wk intervention provided meals and weekly visits and resulted in beneficial changes but was not designed to support long-term behavior change.
Given impressive short-term benefits, we wanted to know whether any dietary changes persisted even in the absence of support.
We attempted to contact and re-consent survivors for a descriptive follow-up consisting of a 3-d food diary and quality-of-life questionnaires; medical records were reviewed to ascertain survival status. Two participants (1 control, 1 intervention) were withdrawn shortly after randomization in the pilot and were not included in this follow-up.
Overall, 2 of 20 (10%) participants originally assigned to the intervention and 5 of 10 (50%) assigned to control had died by the time of chart review. Among surviving participants, 11 of 18 intervention and 2 of 5 control participants completed the follow-up assessment, which occurred, on average, 5 y after their last study visit. Among intervention participants who completed dietary follow-up, mean energy intake remained lower. Although the intake of most food groups returned toward baseline, intake of refined grains and added fats remained lower at follow-up.
In this small, exploratory, long-term follow-up, research participants maintained selective dietary changes 5 y after completing an 8-wk intervention. Although mortality differences require cautious interpretation, these descriptive findings suggest that longer, adequately powered studies are warranted.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03045289 on 7 February 2017.

PMID:
42473551
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Jul 2026.

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