Pancreatic cancer cells can “starve” thanks to a combination of a cancer drug and a keto diet , an early study has suggested. Researchers said that their new study points to a “vulnerability” which could potentially lead to a new treatment for the most deadly common cancer. Only around 5% of people with the disease survive for a decade after diagnosis.
Pancreatic Cancer UK urged patients not to make any radical changes to their diets, saying that the study was still in the early stages and the drug has not yet been tested in humans with pancreatic cancer. A keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat plan designed to put your body in the optimum metabolic state for fat-burning, known as ketosis. A conventional keto diet is rich in high-quality meats, yoghurts and cheeses.
Researchers initially set out to examine how the body manages to support itself on fat while fasting. They found that a protein known as eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF4E) changes the body’s metabolism to switch to “fat consumption” during fasting. The same switch also occurs when an animal is on a ketogenic diet – a diet based on high fat and low carbohydrates.
The team, from UC San Francisco in the US, discovered that a new cancer drug called eFT508, which is currently in clinical trials, blocked this protein, preventing the body from metabolising fat. In mouse studies, researchers found that when cancer therapy blocks fat metabolism, which is the tumour’s only source of fuel for as l.