Tumors need to devour enough nutrients to power their uncontrolled growth. For decades, researchers have been trying to develop new drugs that can cut off their "food" supply. A study published on November 8 showed that an upgraded version of a failed anticancer drug can not only prevent tumor cells from taking up an essential nutrient, but also stimulate immune cells to attack the growth of tumor cells. "This discovery is very encouraging." Ralph DeBerardinis, a cancer biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said, "You can get rid of tumor cells with just one drug and at the same time boosting immune cells." Tumor cells need nutrients in order to acquire molecules that are essential for survival and replication, but their overeating also turns the surrounding environment into an acidic, hypoxic "ditch" that prevents immune cells from destroying these tumor cells. An amino acid called glutamine is a nutr...