Sugar metabolism is typical in cancer, says study

Cancer cell metabolism has been perceived as somewhat of a conundrum for more than a century. Recent findings from Washington University in St. Louis academics suggest that it might not be an abnormality at all.

New Delhi: Cancer cell metabolism has been perceived as somewhat of a conundrum for more than a century. Recent findings from Washington University in St. Louis academics suggest that it might not be an abnormality at all. The work was released in Molecular Cell on August 15.

One of the most crucial nutrients in the body is glucose, a common sugar found in diet. It tends to be devoured by cancer cells at an astonishing rate. That appears reasonable at first because cancer cells need to synthesise a lot of things. Because cancers spread quickly, every cell must duplicate every component within it. But there's a problem. The glucose isn’t utilised well by cancer cells. Instead of extracting every ounce of energy they can from glucose, they release the majority of it as waste.

The senior author of the current study is Patti, who works at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the School of Medicine. The metabolism is expected to adhere to specific biochemical laws. Thinking about the potential reasons cancers could be permitted to destroy them has been intriguing, Patti said. But the results we provide here show that cancer cells do adhere to established rules. (ANI)