Controlled Low Calorie Diet in Reducing Side Effects and Increasing Response to Chemotherapy in Patients With Breast or Prostate Cancer

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To obtain preliminary estimates of the impact of a restricted diet on toxicity and efficacy of chemotherapy for breast and prostate cancer. II. To evaluate the compliance with a controlled diet intervention. III. To investigate changes in plasma insulin, glucose, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and IGF binding protein (IGFBP) levels in subjects who consume a restricted diet compared to controls. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 or 2 treatment arms. ARM I: Patients eat a special low-calorie diet during 3 days prior to chemotherapy, during the 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and 24 hours after chemotherapy. Patients are provided with all meals and all food to be consumed and maintain a diary of the food consumed and appropriate amounts. Patients meet with the study dietician within 3 weeks of enrollment and prior to, or on the day of, their first course of chemotherapy on study and at the start of each subsequent course. ARM II: Patients eat a normal diet and receive dietary advice which may include consultation with a nutritionist. Patients maintain a diary of the food consumed and appropriate amounts.