Low-Carbohydrate Normocaloric Diet in Patients With Head and Neck Carcinoma (HNC)

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Assess the impact of a low-carbohydrate normocaloric diet on transporter of the outer mitochondrial membrane subunit 20 (TOMM20) expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in carcinoma cells and the impact of a low-carbohydrate normocaloric diet on monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) expression in fibroblasts. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Assess the feasibility of a low-carbohydrate normocaloric diet treatment in head and neck carcinoma (HNC) patients. II. Assess the effect of a low-carbohydrate normocaloric diet on the serum levels of insulin, and insulin growth factor (IGF)-1 and -2. III. Assess the potential impact of a low-carbohydrate normocaloric diet on the following: disease-free survival, distant metastases-free survival, overall survival. IV. To evaluate the utility of cancer-derived exosomes to serve as prognostic biomarkers for real-time monitoring of therapeutic efficacy and identifying early recurrence using longitudinal samples from cancer patients undergoing treatment. OUTLINE: Patients follow a normocaloric, low-carbohydrate diet for 10-28 days (from the time of cancer diagnosis to definitive surgical treatment). After completion of study, patients are followed up at 1 month, 3 months, and then every 3 months for 24 months.