L-glutamine

Featured study

L-Glutamine in combination with first-line gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: an open-label, single-arm, phase 1 GlutaPanc trial ↗
Nature cancer · 2026 · PMID 42675216

Who was studied

16 adults (median age 71) with untreated advanced pancreatic cancer, most of it metastatic, at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Everyone also received standard gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy.

How

Open-label, single-arm phase 1 dose-finding trial (GlutaPanc, NCT04634539) using prescription-grade L-glutamine (Endari). Its main goal was to find a dose for a later trial; whether the combination works was a secondary question.

What it found

Tumors shrank at least somewhat in 15 of 16 people (the "94%" in social media posts). Seven (44%) had a formal response, including two complete responses; eight had stable disease and one progressed. Median progression-free survival was 8.5 months and median overall survival 22 months, which the authors compare favorably with the earlier MPACT trial of the same chemotherapy alone.

Limits

No control group, only 16 people, and the comparison is to a different, older trial whose patients may not match. The authors write that their results do not support the claim that glutamine plus chemotherapy beats chemotherapy alone; that needs a randomized trial. Several authors have a pending patent related to the work.

Safety & what remains unknown

Serious (grade 3 or higher) treatment-related side effects occurred in about two in three people, mainly from the chemotherapy. Glutamine's role in cancer is not settled: other research tries the opposite approach, blocking tumors' use of glutamine. People with cancer should not add glutamine or any supplement without their oncology team, and people with liver or kidney disease should ask a clinician first.

Talk to a clinician before starting a supplement, especially if you are pregnant, take prescription medicines or have a medical condition.

Where to find it