Targeting Glutamine Metabolic Reprogramming in Pancreatic Cancer: Current Insights and Future Directions

Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is a devastating malignancy with a poor prognosis and increasing morbidity. Current treatment strategies have limited efficacy in improving patient survival. Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer and plays a key role in the progression and maintenance of PC. PC cells exhibit a unique glutamine metabolism that is distinct from other cancer types. The non-classical pathway of glutamine metabolic reprogramming plays a "permissive role" in the survival and proliferation of PC cells, mainly by affecting the redox homeostasis of the cells. In this review, we compare and contrast the canonical and non-canonical glutamine metabolic pathways and highlight recent advances in targeting non-canonical glutamine metabolism for therapeutic intervention. This may provide novel insights and opportunities for exploiting glutamine metabolic reprogramming in PC treatment.