Slashing sugar from your diet might slow the spread of cancer
A study by the University of Texas has found a connection between cancer and sugar. Certain types of cancer might have a sweet tooth, according to the Express.
“It has been suspected that many cancer cells are heavily dependent on sugar as their energy supply, but it turns out that one specific type – squamous cell carcinoma – is remarkably more dependent,” Dr. Jung-whan “Jay” Kim, assistant professor of biological sciences and senior author of the study, said.
Around one-quarter of lung cancers are squamous cell carcinoma, a type that is really difficult to treat. Lung cancer survival in the UK has changed little in the last 40 years, according to Cancer Research UK. The researchers examined the data of 11,000 patients with 33 types of cancer and they discovered that the protein GLUT1, that is responsible for transporting glucose, a type of sugar, into cells was higher in squamous cell carcinoma than adenocarcinoma, another type of cancer. Sugar is an energy source that fuels the metabolism. The scientists discovered that GLUT1 was necessary for normal cell function.
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“We looked at this from several different experimental angles, and consistently, GLUT1 was highly active in the squamous subtype of cancer. Adenocarcinoma is much less dependent on sugar,” Kim said. “When we gave GLUT1 inhibitors to mice with lung cancer, the squamous cancer diminished, but not the adenocarcinoma. There was not a complete eradication, but tumour growth slowed.”
“Taken in total, our findings indicate that GLUT1 could be a potential target for new lines of drug therapy, especially for the squamous subtype of cancer,” he added.
Additionally, the researchers found that GLUT1 levels were much higher in four other types of squamous cell cancer, including head and neck, oesophageal and cervical.
The study is the first to show the metabolism of these two types of lung cancer is different. It also found that GLUT1 levels were much higher in four other types of squamous cell cancer, like head and neck, oesophageal and cervical. The authors of the study will investigate in the future whether a sugar-restricted diet affects how lung cancer progresses.
“Excessive sugar consumption is not only a problem that can lead to complications like diabetes, but also, based on our studies and others, the evidence is mounting that some cancers are also highly dependent on sugar”, Kim said. “We’d like to know from a scientific standpoint whether we might be able to affect cancer progression with dietary changes.”
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