A study led by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys suggests an entirely new approach to treat pancreatic cancer. The research shows that feeding tumors a copycat of an important nutrient starves them of the fuel they need to survive and grow. The method, described in the journal Nature Cancer, has been used in early clinical trials for lung cancer. However, the unique properties of pancreatic cancer may make the strategy an even stronger candidate in the pancreas.
There have been similar studies looking at “feeding” mannose to solid tumors. The starve-the-tumor-with-fake-nutrients option has a lot of potential.