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Cancer’s craving for sugar: an opportunity for clinical exploitation

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Abstract

More than 80 years ago, Otto Warburg described the phenomenon whereby cancer cells avidly take up glucose and produce lactic acid under aerobic conditions, a process subsequently referred to as the Warburg effect or aerobic glycolysis. The exact molecular mechanisms underlying cancers reliance on glycolysis remains unclear, but is likely a combination of an epigenetic response to the hypoxic tumour environment in combination with direct oncogenic stimulation. The aim of the current manuscript is to review the normal process of glycolysis and highlight the alterations that occur with malignant transformation, to consider the potential advantages of glycolytic respiration for cancer cell survival, and finally to explore areas where altered glucose metabolism can be exploited for clinical benefit.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no disclosures and no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Unit of Medicine, Surgery and Anaesthesia, St. James’s University Hospital, Level 7, Clinical Sciences Building, Leeds, LS9 7TF, UK

    S. Yeluri, B. Madhok, K. R. Prasad & D. G. Jayne

  2. Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    S. Yeluri, B. Madhok, K. R. Prasad & D. G. Jayne

  3. Department of Pathology and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    P. Quirke

Authors
  1. S. Yeluri
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  2. B. Madhok
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  3. K. R. Prasad
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  4. P. Quirke
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  5. D. G. Jayne
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Yeluri.

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Yeluri, S., Madhok, B., Prasad, K.R. et al. Cancer’s craving for sugar: an opportunity for clinical exploitation. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 135, 867–877 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-009-0590-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-009-0590-8

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