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The impact of diet on natural killer cell metabolism and anti-tumor function

Published on May 28, 2026   17 min

Other Talks in the Series: Periodic Reports: Advances in Clinical Interventions and Research Platforms

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0:00
My name is Dr. Rebeca Delconte. I'm a postdoc at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Today I'm going to be talking about the impact of diet on natural killer cell metabolism and anti-tumour function.
0:16
Let's begin by discussing how dietary habits have changed over time. If we compare ancestral or hunter-gatherer diets with the present day, we can observe some major differences in diet timing and composition. For example, in the past we know that food sources were variable as most food was foraged, which meant that there were seasonal fluctuations in availability of food. Compared to the present or current western diet, we are fortunate now to have a constant supply of calories. However, this often results in excess and much of what we eat is highly processed. We can see the stark difference in obesity rates between ancestral and current diets with around 40% of the current population considered obese. If we look at this more recent study, we can see that the increase in calories is still occurring with a higher caloric intake observed in 2010 compared with 1970 and an increase in fats and sugar with no real increases in whole foods such as fruit and vegetables.
1:21
With this in mind, interest in using dietary modifications to improve the health span and longevity of individuals has increased over the last ten years. Many different diets have been incorporated, including changes in dietary composition such as the Mediterranean or ketogenic diets. Restriction of intake of calories either through general caloric restriction or limiting food intake to specific windows of time and finally undergoing periods of fasting or adhering to fasting mimicking diets. Extensive research in this area has shown that a reduction in calories and increased whole foods can have beneficial effects such as decreased growth factors, lower blood glucose and triglycerides and reduced oxidative stress.

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The impact of diet on natural killer cell metabolism and anti-tumor function

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