Thus, a non-canonical pathway of glutamine metabolism was found in pancreatic cancer cells: whereas normal cells use glutamate dehydrogenase (GLUD1) to catalyze the conversion of glutamate into α-ketoglutarate to sustain the tricarboxylic acid cycle for the production of energy required for cellular metabolism, in pancreatic cancer cells, glutamine-derived aspartate is transported into the cytoplasm, where it is converted into oxaloacetate by aspartate transaminase and, in turn, into malate and then pyruvate, increasing the NADPH/NADP+ ratio required to maintain the cellular redox state [94]. This evidence concerns the gene GLUD1 and familial pancreatic carcinoma.