Scientists at UC San Francisco have discovered a new way to target and shrink pancreatic cancer in mice by combining a high-fat ketogenic diet with a specific cancer therapy.
This research offers a potential new approach to treating one of the deadliest types of cancer.
The key to this discovery lies in how our bodies use different types of fuel for energy.
Normally, our bodies rely on glucose (sugar) for energy, but when we fast or follow a ketogenic diet—one that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates—the body switches to burning fat for fuel.
This process creates molecules called ketone bodies, which the body uses in place of glucose.
The research team, led by Dr. Davide Ruggero, was originally studying how the body manages to survive on fat alone during fasting.
They discovered that a protein called eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF4E) plays a crucial role in this switch to fat metabolism. This same switch occurs when an animal is on a ketogenic diet.
In their study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers found that a new cancer drug called eFT508, currently in clinical trials, can block eIF4E and prevent the body from metabolizing fat.
When the scientists combined this drug with a ketogenic diet in mice with pancreatic cancer, the cancer cells were starved of their only available fuel source—fat—and the tumors stopped growing.
This discovery is significant because pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat. The tumors often continue to grow even when glucose and carbohydrates are restricted, as they can adapt to use fat as an alternative energy source.
However, by blocking the fat metabolism pathway with eFT508 and forcing the tumors to rely solely on fat through a ketogenic diet, the researchers were able to effectively starve the cancer cells.
Dr. Ruggero and his team were excited to find that this approach could create a “point of vulnerability” in pancreatic cancer, allowing for a targeted treatment strategy using a drug that is already known to be safe in humans.
The combination of diet and drug therapy could offer a new way to treat this and potentially other forms of cancer.
The researchers also highlighted that the connection between diet and cancer treatment has long been a challenging area of study. While fasting and certain diets have been believed to promote health for centuries, this study provides a clear biological explanation of how diet can influence cancer treatment.
By understanding the mechanisms behind these effects, scientists can develop more effective, personalized therapies that combine specific diets with cancer drugs.
The study also opens up the possibility of discovering similar vulnerabilities in other types of cancer. Each cancer may have its own “Achilles’ heel” that could be exploited with the right combination of diet and medication.
In conclusion, this groundbreaking research suggests that combining a ketogenic diet with targeted cancer therapy could be a powerful new way to fight pancreatic cancer, providing hope for better treatments in the future.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about vitamin D and bowel cancer, and a cautionary note about peanuts and cancer.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the link between ultra-processed foods and cancer, and everyday foods to ward off pancreatic cancer.
