Does cancer need sugar to survive?
Diet plays a significant role in overall physical health. For decades, scientists have studied the relationship between food and cancer to find exploitable therapeutic correlations between dieting and cancer. But none of those studies has yet yielded concrete proof of the link between various nutritional components and cancer risk or treatment. However, personalized nutritional therapy has been found to improve the outcome of conventional cancer treatments such as chemo and radiotherapy.
But is that the same case with sugar? There is a lot of confusing and contradicting information out there about how sugar fuels cancer and how a low-sugar diet can help fight the disease. Does cancer need sugar to form and grow, and if that’s true, can cancer cells and tumors starve to death in the absence of sugar, leaving healthy cells intact?
This article sets the record straight on the cancer-sugar relationship. It turns out that most claims about sugar’s role in cancer development are nothing more than myths based on an old theory.
The Role of Sugar in Cell Physiology
All living human cells need energy to survive and function. That energy comes from food, more specifically from the breakdown of glucose. Mitochondria (specialized organelles responsible for cellular metabolism) convert glucose into energy molecules called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) through a 3-stage metabolic process: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
The glucose comes from either sugary foods and beverages or starchy food in one’s diet. Sweet foods and drinks such as sodas, candy, and frosted cake contain highly refined sugars largely made up of molecular glucose and fructose. Once ingested, these simple sugars are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. On the other hand, carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, and pasta might not taste sweet but are basically polymers or long chains of simple sugars. Carbohydrates are digested in the gut, where the polymer bonds are broken by enzyme action to form glucose. The glucose is then absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed throughout the body.
Glucose generates energy on a cellular lever that powers the entire body. It’s essentially the fuel of life.
The Connection Between Sugar and Cancer
Where does the idea that cancer needs sugar to thrive come from? The theory started in the 1920s when German scientist Otto Warburg noticed that cancerous cells consumed more sugar (glucose) than normal healthy cells. He was not entirely wrong. Cancer cells multiply rapidly, using up a lot of energy. So, it makes sense that they’d burn more fuel than their non-cancerous counterparts.
Warburg further observed that malignant cells would somehow alter their metabolism, not only increasing their glucose appetite but also changing how they harvested energy from glucose. The cancer cells would ferment the glucose to lactate and convert the lactate to energy. This bizarre phenomenon came to be known as the Warburg Effect and has been the subject of countless scientific studies and publications ever since its discovery. Warburg proposed that tumors resorted to this inefficient but quick energy generation method to compensate for dysfunctional mitochondria. But later research has proven that cancer cells indeed have functional mitochondria they rely upon for energy.
What Does Science Say?
Interestingly, recent studies into the Warburg Effect raise more questions than answers on the metabolic behaviors of cancerous cells. More research is needed to better understand the potential therapeutic or pharmaceutical applications of this phenomenon. The same goes for other sugar-related claims in cancer prevention and treatment.
For instance, one study published in 2019 suggests that people who consume more sugary drinks, including pure fruit juice, have a higher risk of cancer. But the study also acknowledges that high sugar consumption is associated with obesity, which is a known cancer risk factor. So, there might be more to these findings.
Speaking of obesity, it’s actually the only convincing, though indirect, link between sugar and cancer. There is indisputable evidence that excessive sugar intake can single-handedly lead to unhealthy weight gain and obesity. And according to data gathered by the National Cancer Institute, obesity is associated with an increased risk of 13 types of cancer, including liver, kidney, and breast cancers.
It turns out that fat tissues are not the inactive calorie storage they were long thought to be. Fat cells secrete hormones such as adipokines and estrogen that, in high enough concentrations, can induce a low-grade chronic inflammatory state. Subsequently, inflammation causes oxidative stress, which increases the chances of cancer-triggering DNA damage.
Additionally, people with obesity often have elevated levels of insulin (hyperinsulinemia), which besides causing Type II diabetes, also raises the risk of developing cancer, particularly prostate, kidney, endometrial, and colon cancers.
Is It Possible to Starve Cancer Cells?
It seems rather intuitive that sticking to a low-sugar, low-carb diet should cut off the critical glucose supply cancer cells need to proliferate. But that’s simply not possible (at least not through dieting) for a number of reasons.
First, a low-carb diet might be unsustainable and difficult to maintain in the long run, while a totally zero-carbs diet is wildly impractical, not to mention unhealthy. Second, although cancer cells consume a lot of glucose, they rely on many other nutrients, including amino acids and fats. Third, active cells readily convert stored fats and even protein molecules embedded in skeletal muscles into ATP when glucose supply runs low. This results in weight loss and muscular atrophy. So, eliminating carbs from the diet can be dangerous and potentially life-threatening for cancer patients whose bodies are already physiologically compromised.
In the biological and practical sense, it’s impossible to stop any cell from naturally making energy to sustain itself. However, researchers are still hopeful that, once well understood, the Warburg Effect can be reverse engineered into effective cancer treatments that selectively target malignant cells. In fact, this area of study shows great promise.
A group of researchers from Duke University Medical Center published a paper in 2017 announcing that a molecule called koningic acid (KA) could block GAPDH, an enzyme they identified as being responsible for controlling the rate of glucose metabolism in cancer cells. Another study published in the journal Nature demonstrates the potential of dietary restriction of serine and glycine in curbing tumor growth.
However, cancer treatment proposals based on the Warburg Effect are still theoretical or experimental at best. And definitely not cues for cancer patients to try any drastic dietary restrictions in the name of fighting cancer, at least not without professional guidance from a reputable oncologist or nutritionist.
Does Cancer Need Sugar to Survive? The Bottom Line
Yes, cancer cells, indeed all cells, need sugar to survive. But some misleading information outlets blow the connection between sugar and cancer out of proportion. While cutting back on sugar is generally good for overall health and well-being, don’t expect it to have any immediate effect on your cancer risk or treatment.
Avoid and debunk such misleading and dangerous cancer myths by getting your cancer info and advice straight from the experts. The healthcare professionals at Brio-Medical are more than happy to answer any and all your pressing questions regarding cancer treatment, care, and everything in between. Contact Brio-Medical today to schedule a free consultation.
References:
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- National Cancer Institute. “CANCER CAUSES AND PREVENTION: Diet” Posted: April 29, 2015. Accessed August 7, 2022.
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