Supplement plus chemotherapy boosts pancreatic cancer survival
When added to standard chemotherapy, a clinical version of the dietary supplement L-glutamine improved survival in an early-phase trial of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The study, led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators, was published in Nature Cancer.
A clinical trial involving 16 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer found that adding L-glutamine to standard chemotherapy improved survival rates and maintained weight in half of the participants. L-glutamine is an amino acid that aids digestion and gut health, which is crucial for patients with pancreatic cancer who often struggle to absorb nutrients and develop a condition called cachexia.
The trial, led by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, was published in Nature Cancer. The study, which began with the goal of improving gut health, showed a correlation between gut bacteria response to glutamine and patient outcomes. Laboratory data indicated that cancer cells exposed to high-dose glutamine were particularly vulnerable to chemotherapy.
The researchers emphasize that while the study did not compare the two options head-to-head, the results are compelling enough to advance to a larger randomized trial. Survival for advanced pancreatic cancer is currently poor, and this trial suggests a potential new option for optimizing first-line chemotherapy.
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