Only about 5% of people with the disease survive 10 years after diagnosis.
New research shows how a keto diet can be used in conjunction with cancer treatment to eradicate pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest and hardest to detect cancers. Photo: Shutterstock
However, because research is still in its early stages and the drug has not been tested in people with pancreatic cancer, Pancreatic Cancer UK urged patients not to make drastic changes to their diet.
The researchers decided to study how the body fuels itself with fat during fasting.
They found that a protein known as eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) alters the body's metabolism during fasting, switching it to a “fat-burning” state.
A research team at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that a new anti-cancer drug currently in clinical trials, called eFT508, blocks this protein and disrupts fat metabolism in the body.
“We now have strong evidence that dietary therapy, when used in conjunction with existing cancer treatments, can precisely eliminate cancer,” said Professor Davide Ruggiero of the University of California, San Francisco.
In mice, the researchers found that using cancer treatments to block fat metabolism — the tumor's only source of fuel — appeared to halt cancer growth as long as the mice remained on a ketogenic diet.
“Certain cancers, such as pancreatic tumours, can exploit ketone bodies as an alternative energy source to maintain their fitness,” the researchers wrote in Nature.
“Our findings have direct implications for the biology of pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly cancers,” said Professor Davide Ruggiero, lead author of the paper.
Knowing that pancreatic cancer thrives on fat, and that the eIF4E protein is active when fat is burned, the scientists first put the animals on a ketogenic diet, causing the tumours to consume only fat, and then administered anti-cancer drugs.
The researchers said this meant the drug cut off the cancer cells' only source of nutrition, causing the cancer to appear to shrink.
Professor Davide Ruggiero is a cancer researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. Photo: USCF
“Our findings reveal a vulnerability that can be treated with clinical inhibitors that are already known to be safe in humans,” Ruggiero said.
“We now have strong evidence that combining dietary therapy with existing cancer treatments may be able to precisely eliminate cancer.”
He said he expects most cancers will have other vulnerabilities, which could provide the basis for new approaches to cancer treatment through diet and personalized therapy.
“More than half of those diagnosed die within three months…New ways to diagnose and treat this devastating disease are desperately needed to improve survival rates.”
Based on current evidence, people with pancreatic cancer are strongly advised not to make any drastic changes to their diet unless advised by a medical professional. Dr Chris McDonald, Head of Research at Pancreatic Cancer UK
“Understanding why cancer cells grow and spread so rapidly, and how this is promoted, is an important area of research that may lead to new, more effective treatments.”
MacDonald stressed that the new study was conducted in mice and is an early-stage study of a drug that has not yet been used in human pancreatic cancer, “so these results should be treated with caution.”
“Pancreatic cancer patients suffer greatly from malnutrition and indigestion as a result of their cancer,” he says.
“Based on current evidence, we strongly advise people with pancreatic cancer not to make any major changes to their diet unless advised by a medical professional.”
