In 1931 Otto Warburg, a German physiologist and physician, conducted an important study on cancer cells that is helping scientists today to understand the effects of cancer on the human body. Warburg was one of the century’s leading biochemists and was won the Nobel Prize in 1931 for his work.
Warburg discovered the main biochemical cause of cancer, or what distinguishes a cancer cell from a normal, healthy cell, which was that cancer metabolizes much differently than normal cells. Normal cells require oxygen and cancer cells do not thrive with oxygen. In fact, cancer cells metabolize through a process of fermentation which requires sugar. Cancer cells have a metabolism that is about 8 times greater than that of the metabolism of normal cells, hence the cells divide and grow much faster. This discovery, called the Warburg Effect, is one of the primary factors used in position emission testing, or PET imaging studies.
When the human body is invaded by cancer cells, it constantly works to feed the cancer. When the food supply is cut off, the cancer begins to starve unless it can trigger the body to produce sugar to feed itself.
Scientists interested in this connection between sugar and cancer has developed therapies for cancer to counteract the bad effects of cancer. Laetrile is one treatment while hydrazine sulfate (also called Sehydrin) is another. Both will stop the process of glycogenesis (or sugar production) in greater than 50% of all patients.
Scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have shown that many types of cancer cells divert glucose, or sugar, away from the cells mitochondria which acts as the fuel or power source for the cell. Study results suggest that tyrosine kinases, enzymes that act as the signal switches in the human cell to turn it “on” or “off,” play a greater role in mitochondria that was previously recognized. Other proteins and enzymes are also being looked at as part of this research and desired control for cancer cell metabolism.
Early results of the Emory study indicate that the connection between a cells craving for sugar and how that influences the cell growth process is a significant finding that supports and builds on Warburg’s discovery in 1931. As new cancer therapies are developed that address glycogenesis cancer patients will be able to take advantage of them and utilize more effective therapies to fight their disease.
To read the full report from Emory University, click here.
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