SAN FRANCISCO: Cancer drugs and the keto diet may help treat pancreatic cancer, a preliminary study suggests.
According to the researchers, their new research identifies a ‘weakness’ that could potentially lead to new treatments for this most common form of cancer.
Only 5 percent of people with the disease survive a decade after diagnosis.
Pancreatic Cancer UK urges patients not to make any radical changes to their diet. The agency said the research is still in its early stages and the drug has not yet been tested in humans with pancreatic cancer.
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat eating plan designed to put your body in an optimal metabolic state for burning fat, known as ketosis. A traditional keto diet consists of high-quality meats, yogurt, and cheese.
The researchers first examined how the body relies on fat during starvation.
The researchers discovered that a protein called eukaryotic translation initiation factor (EIF4E) switches the body’s metabolism to “fat burning” during starvation.
The same change occurs when an animal is on a ketogenic diet – a diet that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates.
A team from UC San Francisco in the US found that a new cancer drug called EFT 508, which is currently in clinical trials, blocked this protein, which allows the body to break down fat. inhibited metabolism.
In a study on mice, researchers found that when cancer therapy blocks the metabolism of fat, which is the tumor’s only source of fuel while the mice are on a ketogenic diet, the cancer stops growing.
