One of the hallmarks of cancer is a change in cellular metabolism, a series of chemical reactions so fundamental to life that their alteration makes cancer cells seem creepily malevolent.
Healthy cells take in blood sugar (glucose molecules), which they break down to extract energy. This happens in two phases—one phase that takes place in the cytoplasm and a subsequent phase that occurs inside cellular compartments called mitochondria.
Cancer cells are thought to mostly skip the mitochondrial phase, compensating for the energy they forgo by revving up the first phase and breaking down glucose rapidly to secrete large quantities of lactate—a form of partially digested glucose that has long been regarded as a "waste product.
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| Metabolism is nothing if not complicated. Some of the major metabolic pathways are shown in this metro-style map. |
Source: phys.org
