I get very confused on this entire issue based on my regular scanning of research reports and books when it comes to diet and cancer. I'm reading "The Metabolic Approach to Cancer" now (given to me as a gift from a cancer survivor [not pancreatic]), one of many nutrition/healing books I've come across.

First, there are research reports that seem to indicate certain vitamins/supplements can interfere with the efficacy of certain chemo products. So, "whatever" your beliefs or philosophy your team "needs to know" what your are eating, your supplements and your honest activity level. Don't obfuscate!

Second, (as an example) in one research project, engineered PDAC mice were starved of glucose (think Keto Diet) and circulating cancers cells pretty much all died (yay!) -- but so did some of the mice that developed a fatal, unrecoverable muscle disease that required steroids to live. Then, there was a recent report that seems to show that diabetic pancreatic cancer patients have statistically better outcomes and respond better to chemo treatments. Since I don't have access to the actual papers (just the summaries, commentaries, etc.) the "specific" tumor types (think KRAS G12?, BRAC1), patient age, stage, location, co-comorbidities, etc. aren't indicated and I don't have access to the underlying data collection specs, I don't know what to think of this conflicting information.

This is just a teeny-tiny drop of all the research done in the last year. There are countless microbiome and bacteria studies being published, like comparing mouth or poop bacteria of PDAC patients to the general public and finding different bacteria for the PDAC crowd. This is a growing field of research, especially at universities around the world.

Researchers are looking at "everything" these days to figure out why some people survive and others do not. With the new customized targeted therapies being developed, they are frantically searching to learn why some respond to immunotherapy and others fail. I recently came across an interesting graphic that showed the amount of money, research grants, etc. that was being poured into pancreatic cancer and KRAS research over the last seven years and it has been nothing less than amazing. We are finally on the map! The last thing I'd like to mention here is that there is a ton of research and research dollars going into nutrition and supplement investigation (yes, Chinese medicine, too. Check out how much of the research is being contributed from Asia -- a lot!).

So, what am I doing? Ha, ha. Eating my veggies as always, getting a ton of exercise, sunlight and attempting to stay positive while I comb through the "cure" books and scientific research. A friend of mine just passed from PDAC. Younger, an amazing athlete (think "walking muscle"), who ate the healthiest foods, had the most positive outlook on life, but had no symptoms until it spread to so many organs they weren't sure where to start. She had the best neoadjuvant chemo, but her cancer did not respond. Why? Would Turkey Tail mushrooms have made a difference? Despite my anger and grief at her passing, I take solace knowing that right now, there are a few thousand people huddled in labs around the world trying to save us and those who will walk our path in the future. So now, I'll finish my oatmeal loaded with bananas to begin my day and follow this thread of ideas, hoping I started today with a beneficial meal and pray I'm not struck with paralysis as to what prepare for the next meal.

Chin up everyone -- there are thousands out there working for us!