LINK TO ORIGINAL POST Re: Sugar - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

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LINK TO ORIGINAL POST Re: Sugar

Zach58 profile image
7 Replies

nature.com/articles/s41467-...

hopefully this will correct any errors in daily mail article.

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Zach58 profile image
Zach58
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pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13

Our cells use glucose for energy. Fast-growing cells have a greater need for energy. The energy source does not determine the growth rate, at normal circulating glucose levels. Or even at the elevated levels found in those with the metabolic syndrome.

In normal cells, aerobic glycolysis occurs. This involves the conversion of glucose to pyruvate, which is then oxidised. It is an efficient process & releases 32 mol of ATP per mol of glucose.

In tumors that have outgrown their oxygen supply, cancer cells turn to anaerobic glycolysis followed by the fermentation of lactic acid. This is an inefficient process that releases only 2 mol of ATP per mol of glucose.

Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells (not PCa cells, however) will often turn to anaerobic glycolysis even when there is sufficient oxygen.

Warburg was of the opinion that malignancy followed this shift, rather than causing it. By the time he died, his colleagues had mostly discarded that idea.

So the big mystery has been why do many cancer cells adopt such an inefficient mechanism prematurely.

Working with yeast cells, the breakthrough that the team seems to have made, is that cells that make the switch have a growth advantage due to Ras hyperactivation.

Needless to say, none of this changes the futility of trying to control non-PCa cancer by eliminating sugar from the diet.

One would have to eliminate carbohydrates almost entirely to starve cancer cells of glucose. The fate of all digestible dietary carbohydrate is glucose.

Dr Myers has said that it would be crazy to starve the brain of glucose. The brain is a heavy user.

But that is exactly what happens in a ketogenic diet. It has long been used successfully to prevent seizures in young children. With a ketogenic diet, fats are converted to ketone bodies, which becomes the energy source for cells. We are well-adapted to do this, but not well-adapted to give up carbs. LOL

Anyway, there is a theory that cells that have switched to anaerobic glycolysis are locked in & can't make use of ketone bodies. If I had any other type of cancer I would try it.

Below is the latest review of the literature - the link is full text.

As Dr Myers pointed out, it is possible for PCa cells to switch from fatty acids to anaerobic glycolysis - & those cells would show up on a radio-labeled glucose PET - but this is not common.

-Patrick

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Recently, interest in targeted cancer therapies via metabolic pathways has been renewed with the discovery that many tumors become dependent on glucose uptake during anaerobic glycolysis. Also the inability of ketone bodies metabolization due to various deficiencies in mitochondrial enzymes is the major metabolic changes discovered in malignant cells. Therefore, administration of a ketogenic diet (KD) which is based on high in fat and low in carbohydrates might inhibit tumor growth and provide a rationale for therapeutic strategies. So, we conducted this systematic review to assess the effects of KD on the tumor cells growth and survival time in animal studies. All databases were searched from inception to November 2015. We systematically searched the PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholars, Science Direct and Cochrane Library according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. To assess the quality of included studies we used SYRCLE's RoB tool. 268 articles were obtained from databases by primary search. Only 13 studies were eligible according to inclusion criteria. From included studies, 9 articles indicate that KD had a beneficial effect on tumor growth and survival time. Tumor types were included pancreatic, prostate, gastric, colon, brain, neuroblastoma and lung cancers. In conclusions, although studies in this field are rare and inconsistence, recent findings have demonstrated that KD can potentially inhibit the malignant cell growth and increase the survival time. Because of differences physiology between animals and humans, future studies in cancer patients treated with a KD are needed.

cesanon profile image
cesanon in reply to pjoshea13

1. Apparently this study has been criticised as too narrow to draw any human cancer conclusions from and the authors agree.

2. But... well prior to this study Dr. Charles Myers has been saying that sugar specifically fees the growth of prostate cancer cell. I don't know what research he has based his position on... he always bases his positions on some type of research.

3. Does anyone know what research Myers relies on for his position?

4. His recommendation is to just stay away from sugar. Probably good advice on many levels.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply to cesanon

au contraire:

askdrmyers.wordpress.com/20...

-Patrick

cesanon profile image
cesanon in reply to pjoshea13

LOL clearly Dr. Myers in 2010 didn't believe in a relationship between prostate cancer and sugar.

But in recent years he personally told me just the opposite... with enough clarity that my wife quotes him with some regularity when I eat sweets.

I still have a few weeks of opportunity to email a request to him to clarify what his current position is on this subject.

If I get a response from him, I will return and post it.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply to cesanon

I believe that insulin is a PCa growth risk factor, and frequent glucose spikes will lead to insulin resistance & greater production.

But, considering that a glucose PET scan is not helpful in PCa, I can't see why Dr. Myers would warn you off your sweets.

It's a mystery & I hope that he will respond with clarification.

-Patrick

cesanon profile image
cesanon in reply to pjoshea13

That was quick. Here is what Myers said: Most prostate ca use fat not sugar as an energy source. The problem with sugar is that it increases the small LDL particle number and this increases the risk of heart disease. The small LDL particles may be better able to deliver LDL to the cancer. Thu, increased carbohydrate intake might indirectly fuel the cancer.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply to cesanon

Phew! That's a relief.

While I agree with what he said, the issue is glucose spikes. While pure glucose candy has a glycemic index of 100, candy made with fructose has a GI of only 19. [1]

Ultimately, dietary carbohydrate ends up as glucose. Doesn't matter if the carbs have a low GI - if there is no fat in the meal there will be a glucose spike at some point. This is why a 40% fat Mediterranean can restore insulin sensitivity, lower triglycerides, etc.

If you search out a safe candy & consume it with nuts, say, you should have no problem.

Small LDL particles - VLDL - can carry cholesterol into arterial walls & also into PCa cells. With a low-fat diet, the ratio of VLDL to non-VLDL LDL increases.

Alas, this also happens when testosterone levels plummet.

Obviously, a statin would help control PCa uptake of cholesterol.

-Patrick

[1] caloriecontrol.org/fructose/

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