Category Archives: Cellular Metabolism

WP1122 is a 2-deoxy-D-glucose prodrug in pre-clinical development for glioblastoma

The Warburg Effect is a universal feature of cancer; it describes the phenomenon whereby cancer cells preferentially use glucose for anaerobic glycolysis, as opposed to aerobic respiration via the Krebs Cycle. In order to meet the increased energy demands using a much less efficient process for ATP production, cancer cells take-up 20-times more glucose than wild-type cells. Continue reading

Lactate is another energy source for cancer cells

We have written previously about the Warburg Effect, the observation that cancer cells “bypass normal cellular respiration, that is, glucose converted to pyruvate through glycolysis, and the sequential oxidation of pyruvate through the Krebs Cycle in the mitochondria. Instead, tumor cells divert pyruvate to lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), which reduces pyruvate into lactate.” Continue reading

Metformin improves cancer outcomes

Metformin (Glucophage) is an antihyperglycemic agent that lowers hepatic glucose production, improves peripheral glucose uptake and utilization, and does not cause increased insulin secretion. In fact, “with metformin therapy, insulin secretion remains unchanged while fasting insulin levels and day-long plasma insulin response may actually decrease.” These properties have spawned a great deal of interest in metformin as a treatment for several types of cancers. Continue reading

What do pineapples, glucose, and cancer have in common – mitochondria

I was sent articles by two non-cancer researchers last week – they are quite fitting for discuss on this blog (thank you, Gina and Sherilyn). The first was on DCA (dichloroacetate), a drug approved for congenital lactic acidosis, and the second about bromelain, an enzyme in pineapples. Continue reading

Selectively Targeting Metabolism in Mitochondria In Cancer Cells

An experimental drug, CPI-613, was shown to be safe and induce several responses in a Phase I study of patients with advanced refractory hematologic malignancies. The drug targets mitochondrial enzymes of cancer cells and is not harmful to normal cells at therapeutic doses. Continue reading