Lung Cancer With A Sweet Tooth

cancer symbol (crab) on top of piles of different kinds of sugar

Cancer cells are broken in many ways. One of those changes controls the way the cancer cells get the energy they need to live and reproduce.  Cancer cells tend to use up sugar much more quickly than healthy cells. Research at the University of Texas has now shown that two different kinds of lung cancer - adenocarcinoma and squamous cell lung cancer (SqCC), differ in their use of sugar. The observation is important because it is possible that SqCC could be treated by blocking a sugar transport system that SqCC cells use to take in glucose, the major sugar used by the cells.

Image Credit
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sugar#/media/File:Sucre_blanc_cassonade_complet_rapadura.jpg and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Crabs#/media/File:EB1911_Crab_-_Fig._3.%E2%80%94Gecarcinus_ruricola_%28Violet_Land_Crab%29.jpg