realize the potential of Metabolic Medicine

Oxidative energy production takes place in a cellular organelle called the mitochondria. The mitochondria are known as the cellular “power plants.” Also telling is the fact that the greater the degree of fermentation displayed by a given cancer, the more aggressive the cancer. Because a tumor cell’s mitochondria appear to be dis-regulated, and generate energy by such an inefficient pathway, they have to consume much more glucose to remain viable. A glance at a PET scan, which uses a radioactive labeled glucose analog to image cancer, provides stunning visual evidence of the voracious appetite tumor cells have for glucose compared to normal tissue.

Altered Metabolism May be One of the Drivers of Cancer

It is well established that once a cell  has an impaired ability to produce energy through oxidative pathways, the genomic instability (increased potential for DNA mutations to occur) that accompanies tumor development, inevitable follows.  While it’s true that most of the agents known to cause cancer; chemical carcinogens, viruses, radiation, and inflammation can cause mutations to DNA, it is also true these provocative agents damage the mitochondria. The metabolic theory of cancer states that once the mitochondria of a given cell become disregulated, and the cell reverts to fermentation to obtain energy, a plethora of metabolic and epigenetic modifications participate in the origin of cancer.