Ketogenic Diet With Concurrent Chemoradiation for Pancreatic Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have a cytological or histological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma arising in the pancreas. Adenosquamous cancers will be acceptable.
• •Cancer should be staged via AJCC as IIA, IIB, or III (T3 or T4, any N, M0)
• •Age ≥ 18 years
• •ECOG performance status 0-2 (Karnofsky \> 50%, see Appendix A).
• •Hypertensive medication should be initiated or increased for optimal blood pressure control according to standard public health guidelines prior to starting the ketogenic diet.
• •Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:
• •leukocytes ≥ 3,000/mm3
• •absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm3
• •platelets ≥ 100,000/mm3
• •total bilirubin \< 3.0 mg/dl
• •Hgb A1C \< or = to 8%
• •AST(SGOT) \< or = 5 X institutional upper limit of normal OR a stable or a decreasing test value in patients who have undergone placement of an intrabiliary stent. Both the treating radiation oncologist and medical oncologist must agree that the potential subject's test value is acceptable for study accrual.
• •creatinine \< 1.5 X institutional upper limit of normal OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal.
• •Not pregnant. Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately.
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.