Pancreatic Cancer Seems to Feed on Fructose
Pancreatic cancer cells need fuel to grow and multiply, and the sugar fructose, an ingredient that has become common in many Western foods, is that fuel, a recent study has found. The scientific investigation, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research by doctors at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, was the first time a connection was demonstrated between fructose and cancer propagation. Up to this point, only glucose, another simple sugar, was known to fuel cancer cells.
“The bottom line is the modern diet contains a lot of refined sugar, including fructose, and it’s a hidden danger implicated in a lot of modern diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver,” said Anthony Heaney, an associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery, a Jonsson Center researcher, and senior author of the paper. “In this study, we show that cancers can use fructose just as readily as glucose to fuel their growth.”
The research is especially meaningful because of the enormous increase in fructose consumption by people in the West over the past 40 years. Fructose comes in particular from cane sugar (sucrose) and high fructose corn syrup. The latter, derived from corn and introduced in about 1970, now amounts to more than 40 percent of food and beverage caloric sweeteners, and is present in virtually all American sodas.
From 1970 to 1990, U.S. use of high-fructose corn syrup rose over 1,000 percent, according to an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Food producers utilize the syrup because it’s cheap and easily transported.
In the UCLA study, the researchers removed pancreatic cancer tissue from patients and grew the tumor cells in glass dishes. To one group of dishes, they added glucose, and to another fructose. They then used an analytical technique known as mass spectrometry to follow radioactively labeled sugars to see just how they were being utilized at the cellular level.
Despite the great structural similarity between glucose and fructose, the scientists found that pancreatic cancer cells could easily tell the two apart, and metabolized them very differently. The malignant cells used fructose in a particular biochemical pathway that constructs nucleic acids, the precursors of RNA and DNA – both essential for cell division and multiplication.
“Traditionally, glucose and fructose have been considered as interchangeable monosaccharide substrates that are similarly metabolized, and little attention has been given to sugars other than glucose,” the paper said. “However, fructose intake has increased dramatically in recent decades and cellular uptake of glucose and fructose uses distinct transporters ... These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation. They have major significance for cancer patients, given dietary refined fructose consumption.”
Heaney suggested it may become advisable for the federal government to undertake an anti-fructose campaign similar to those against smoking – especially if the same fructose-centered dynamic is at play in other types of cancer, as may be the case.
Disclaimer
Featured Doctors
Breast Oncology Clinic Westchester County, New York
Preya Ananthakrishnan, M.D.
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Adult Leukemia Treatment NY
Delong Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Westchester Oncology & Hematology
19 Bradhurst Avenue
Hawthorne, NY 10532
Call: 888-370-4284
Find a Radiation Oncologist -Westchester
Lucia Boselli
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Chemotherapy Bronx
Anthony Hoffman
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Skin Sparing Mastectomy Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Axillary Lymph Node Dissection Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Find a Breast Cancer Surgeon
Nella I. Shapiro
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Sterotactic Radiosurgery Bronx
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Radiation Oncologist Bronx NY
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Texas Colonoscopy Centers
The Texas Colonoscopy Centers
The MicroSurgery Institute
,
Call: 888-493-1243
Breast Cancer Care Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
Preya Ananthakrishnan, M.D.
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Find a Radiation Oncologist -Westchester
Lucia Boselli
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Skin Cancer Treatment Manhattan
Westchester Oncology & Hematology Group
Westchester Oncology & Hematology Group
19 Bradhurst Avenue
Hawthorne, NY 10532
Call: 888-370-4284
Sterotactic Radiosurgery Bronx
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Neurosurgeon Westchester, NY 10530
Bennie Chiles
Westchester Spine and Brain Surgery, PLLC
280 N. Central Ave Suite 235
Hartsdale, NY 10530
Call: 914-332-0396
Prostate Cancer Treatment
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Breast Oncology Clinic Westchester County, New York
Preya Ananthakrishnan, M.D.
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Radiation Oncologist Bronx NY
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Skin Sparing Mastectomy Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Prostate Cancer Treatment
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Axillary Lymph Node Dissection Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Chemotherapy Bronx
Fabio Volterra
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Chicago, Illinois Cancer Treatment Center
Cancer Hospital in Zion
Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, Illinois
2520 Elisha Avenue
Zion, IL 60099
Call: 800-403-7412
Gamma Knife Radiation Treatment/Bronx
Anthony Hoffman
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Oncologist
Michael Castro
Personalized Cancer Medicine, PLLC
1329 Lusitana St. Suite 609
Honolulu, HI 96813
Call: (808) 521-0100
Breast Cancer Care Bronxville, Westchester County, New York
Preya Ananthakrishnan, M.D.
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Tulsa, Oklahoma Cancer Treatment Center
Cancer Hospital in OK
Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, Oklahoma
10109 E. 79th Street (81st Street & Highway 169)
Tulsa, OK 74133
Call: 800-655-1253
Specialities
- Acupuncture
- Alternative Medicine
- Bariatric Surgery
- Breast Cancer
- Breast Surgery
- Cancer Treatment
- Cardiology
- Chiropractic
- Cosmetic Dentistry
- Cosmetic Surgery
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Endocrinology
- Facial Enhancement
- Fertility Treatment
- Foot Specialist
- Foot Surgery
- Gastroenterology
- General Surgery
- Geriatrics
- Hair Replacement
- Hematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Infertility Treatment
- Integrative Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- LASIK
- Laser Hair Removal
- Medical Editorial Board
- Medical Spa
- Medical Testing
- Neurology
- Neuropathy
- Nursing Home Services
- Nutrition and Diet
- Obstetrician & Gynecology
- Oncology & Cancer
- Oncology Center
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Orthopedics
- Pain Management
- Physical Therapy
- Plastic Surgery
- Podiatry
- Spinal Decompression
- Spine Surgery
- Sports Medicine
- Stem Cell Therapy
- Thoracic Surgery
- Vascular Surgery
- Vein Surgery
- Weight Loss