MEDICINE
Changing Cancer Cells’ Surface Sugars Can Inhibit Tumor Growth
The key to halting cancer cells may lie in their sugary coats, scientists say. Carbohydrate
molecules surround all cells and help them to identify and interact with one another. Now
new research, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
indicates that altering some of the surface sugars associated with cancer cells can control
tumor growth. The findings suggest that the sugars could one day serve as targets for new
anti-cancer therapies.
Previous research had suggested that certain features of the polysaccharide sugars
surrounding tumor cells might indicate either the stage or aggressiveness of the cancer.
Whether changes to the coating were a cause or a consequence of the disease, however,
remained unclear. To investigate the control a cancer cell’s sugar jacket exerts over its
growth, Ram Sasisekharan and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
employed two enzymes capable of cutting the sugar heparan sulfate in different places.
They injected cancerous mice with both the
…Continue reading Cancer and Sugar – Scientific American
From the April 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News
by Patrick Quillin, PHD, RD, CNS
During the last 10 years I have worked with more than 500 cancer patients as director of nutrition
for Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, Okla. It puzzles me why the simple concept
“sugar feeds cancer” can be so dramatically overlooked as part of a comprehensive cancer treatment
plan.
Of the 4 million cancer patients being treated in America today, hardly any are offered any
scientifically guided nutrition therapy beyond being told to “just eat good foods.” Most patients I
work with arrive with a complete lack of nutritional advice. I believe many cancer patients would
have a major improvement in their outcome if they controlled the supply of cancer’s preferred fuel,
glucose. By slowing the cancer’s growth, patients allow their immune systems and medical
debulking therapies–chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to reduce the bulk of the tumor mass–to
catch up to the disease. Controlling one’s blood-glucose levels through diet, supplements, exercise,
meditation
…Continue reading Cancer’s Sweet Tooth
In addition to throwing off the body’s homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number
of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar’s metabolic
consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications. Each
number is footnoted at the end.
1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar can upset the body’s mineral balance.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in
children.
4. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
5. Sugar can adversely affect children’s school grades.
6. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
7. Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
8. Sugar can cause kidney damage.
9. Sugar can reduce helpful high-density cholesterol (HDLs).
10. Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (LDLs).
11. Sugar may lead to chromium deficiency.
12. Sugar can cause copper deficiency.
13. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
14. Sugar may lead to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and rectum.
15. Sugar can cause
…Continue reading 107 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health
