Expert Explains Cancer May Be Metabolic Disease, and Shares a Cure

In this mitochondrial and cellular health series, we take a look at mitochondrial and cellular health—and review the research behind them. 

“Cancer is not a genetic disease, it’s a metabolic disease,” Thomas N. Seyfried, a well-known scholar in cancer research and a Professor of Biology at Boston College, told The Epoch Times. “Once people understand that cancer is a metabolic disease, then you will begin to see a very big reduction in death and greatly improved quality of life and survival.”



Cancer Has Remained High for Decades

According to the statistics of the American Cancer Society, although the incidence of cancer in the United States has been declining slowly since the beginning of the 21st century, if we look at it over an extended period of time, we will find that the incidence of cancer is actually increasing, not decreasing.

Epoch Times Photo
Research suggests that cancer may not be a genetic disorder. (Health 1+1 / The Epoch Times)

Epoch Times Photo
Cancer rates in the United States remain high. (Health 1+1 / The Epoch Times)

From the perspective of cancer mortality, in the past nearly 100 years, the number of women who died of cancer per 100,000 Americans has gradually declined from roughly 190 in 1930 to 130 in 2022; whereas cancer deaths among men per 100,000 Americans rose from around 160 in 1930 to 180 in 2022 [2].

In 2022, nearly 2,000,000 new cancer cases are expected in the United States, and over 500,000 people are expected to die from it. This means that every day, on average, 5,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer, and over 1,600 people die from it [3].

Cancer May Not Be a Genetic Disease

“Why are so many people dying from cancer?” Seyfried asked. “Because the theory is wrong. The theory that underlies cancer is incorrect.”

Cancer is still generally considered a genetic disorder. Medical textbooks use somatic mutation theory to explain the cause of cancer. These textbooks state that cancer is caused by mutations in proto-oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes [4], and the mutated cells then multiply indefinitely and form malignant tumors. However, Seyfried mentioned a number of facts in this interview and in his published research [5] that are inconsistent with the above theory:

  1. Some cancers do not have genetic and chromosomal mutations;
  2. Some carcinogens do not cause gene mutation;
  3. Carcinogenesis also occurs in normal cells, but some do not develop further into cancerous cells;
  4. The result of studying cancer as a genetic disorder is the development of personalized treatment or precision medicine, but there are off-target effects for some customized cancer precision medicines.
  5. Ancient people from thousands of years ago rarely had cancer, nor did the indigenous people living in the natural environment.

Seyfried also conducted experiments on nuclear and cytoplasmic transplantation [6], providing evidence for the possibility that cancer is not a genetic disorder.

Under regular circumstances, normal cells develop into normal cells with controlled growth (case 1 in the figure below), while cancer cells develop into cancerous cells with uncontrolled growth (case 2).

Genes are stored in the nucleus. When the nucleus of a cancer cell was implanted into a cytoplasm containing normal mitochondria, the cell developed into a normal cell anyway (case 3). According to the somatic mutation theory, a cell with a cancer cell nucleus should have developed into a cancer cell.

However, when the researchers implanted a normal nucleus into a cancerous cytoplasm with abnormal mitochondria, they found that it still developed into a cancer cell (case 4).

Defective mitochondrial structure in cancer cells. (Health 1+1 / The Epoch Times)

Besides, studies of glioma, melanoma, and metastatic breast cancer cells have found that normal mitochondrial function inhibits dysregulated cell growth, regardless of how many genetic or chromosomal abnormalities may be present in the tumor cell nucleus. Seyfried said that all these prove that cell mutation is not the main cause of cancer, and that cancer is in fact, a metabolic disorder.

The Biggest Difference Between Normal Cells and Cancer Cells

The theory that cancer is a metabolic disorder was first proposed about 100 years ago by a well-known German scientist named Otto Warburg. Normal cells break down glucose through aerobic respiration, but Warburg observed that cancer cells are different. Cancer cells obtain energy through fermentation, even in an aerobic environment. Thus, Warburg proposed, aerobic respiratory insufficiency is the origin of cancer.

Seyfried’s research adds another metabolic pathway in cancer cells that Warburg did not observe: cancer cells also get a lot of energy from the fermentation of an amino acid called glutamine, which updated Warburg’s theory [7][8].

The truth, Seyfried said, is that “They [cancer] cannot breathe … they can’t get energy through oxygen, they can only get energy from fermentation.” All cancers can survive without oxygen, but they “cannot live without sugar, glucose, and the amino acid glutamine.”

Cellular aerobic respiration mainly takes place in mitochondria. Mitochondria, which are responsible for respiration, are damaged and hollow in all major types of cancer. The cristae, the wrinkled and wavy structures in the mitochondrial structure, are cluttered and defective. The abnormality of mitochondrial structure will change the function of mitochondria, resulting in the inability of cells to obtain energy through oxidative metabolism. This changes the cell’s metabolism from relying primarily on oxidation to fermentation.

Seyfried further explained that the various abnormalities in cancer cells are caused by the loss of normal function of cell mitochondria due to various reasons (including carcinogens, radiation, pollution, inflammation, age, viruses, etc). A large number of reactive oxygen species (ROS) will be produced when mitochondria are damaged, further attacking and destroying the nucleus.

“The mutations that we see in cancer come as the result of damage from reactive oxygen species,” Seyfried said. “The mutations are an effect, they are not the cause of cancer.”

Furthermore, Seyfried also talked about a phenomenon, that is, cancers with myriad variants share a consistent metastatic process. First, individual cells become cancerous and form tumors; the tumor cells then spread through the blood vessels and circulatory system to other parts of the body, forming new tumors.

Why do all cancers have the same metastatic process? How does this relate to the theory that cancer is a metabolic disorder?

Seyfried said that the mitochondrial metabolic theory explains cancer metastasis better than the somatic mutation theory. After macrophages engulf and fuse with the defective proto-cancer cells, the normally functioning mitochondria are gradually replaced by dysfunctional mitochondria due to inflammation. As immune cells, macrophages have the ability to travel around the body. As a result, these cancer cells, which are fusions of proto-cancer cells and macrophages, spread throughout the body.

Press Pulse Therapy: Adjust Cancer Cell Metabolism to Improve Condition

Seyfried believes the existing cancer treatment system is “broken.” He said once people understand the metabolic theory of cancer, treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy will be replaced by new treatments.

Based on the theory, Seyfried and his team developed the “press pulse therapy” [9][10][11], which is a cocktail treatment consisting of the ketogenic diet, glutaminase inhibitor medicine, and stress management.

The ketogenic diet is adopted because cancer cells have defective mitochondria and impaired metabolism, so they can only rely on fermented sugars and glutamine for energy. Cancer cells cannot obtain energy as ketone bodies cannot be fermented. As for cells with normal metabolic function, they can obtain energy by metabolizing ketone bodies [12].

The purpose of a ketogenic diet combined with basic drugs is to control the ratio of glucose and ketone bodies in the blood to an ideal range while inhibiting the ability of cancer cells to acquire glutamine. In this way, we can “starve” cancer cells from a metabolic perspective, thereby achieving the same effect as cancer treatments. 

An important aspect of “stress pulse therapy” is stress control and emotional management. Seyfried emphasized in the interview that people’s mental stress has a direct relationship with the development of cancer. When patients are diagnosed with cancer, they experience extreme panic and cannot rest or eat in peace. Excessive stress can raise blood sugar levels, which can feed cancer cells into rapid growth. As a result, cancer cannot be controlled. Easing the emotional and stress levels of the patient and his or her family can further stabilize the patient’s psychological and physical condition.

There have been many successful cases of cancer control by managing metabolism. Moreover, many patients use this method when traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are ineffective, or when cancer has spread.

A 38-year-old man developed symptoms in February 2016 and was subsequently diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (the most common and malignant form of primary adult brain cancer). After 20 months of ketogenic diet therapy and completion of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the patient’s tumor decreased by approximately 1.5 cm in diameter. He seemed in good health with no apparent clinical or neurological deficits [13].

Another 54-year-old man was diagnosed with lung cancer; the cancer cells had metastasized and tumors were found in his brain. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy had no effect, so the patient opted for a ketogenic diet. Two years later, the tumors in his brain and lungs shrank; after nine years of treatment, the brain and lung cancer tumors remained stable in size [14].

A 45-year-old woman in Ohio was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2016. In August 2018, the cancer had spread and she developed tumors in her brain, lungs, mediastinum, liver, abdomen, and bones. Her doctor expected her to have less than a month to live. The patient began receiving stress pulse therapy in November 2018. In April 2019, the scan report indicated that the treatment was effective. According to the published study, her last check-up was in March 2021 and the results showed a stable condition, no recurrence, and improved quality of life [15].

In a study published in the Clinical Nutrition journal (2020), 80 patients with locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned to a ketogenic diet or a control group for a 12-week treatment test. Patients in the ketogenic diet group had lower serum insulin levels, and their tumors shrank [16].

Two papers published in Nature: Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Disease describe the therapeutic benefits of a low-carb diet and a fasting-mimicking diet for patients with prostate cancer [Chi 2022][Watt 2022]. A ketogenic diet, which requires fasting and has low carbohydrates, can lower blood sugar levels and control tumor growth. These findings support the hypothesis that elevated ketone bodies are associated with reduced tumor growth [19].

Safety Note: A strict ketogenic diet might cause liver failure due to the omega-6 fats in the diet. It's crucial to make sure the fats you eat are actually healthy. For details, check out "How Linoleic Acid Wrecks Your Health".

Exercising, Fasting, and Avoiding High-Carb Diets May Keep Cancer Away

As for how an average person can maintain a healthy metabolism and prevent cancer, Seyfried said that by keeping the mitochondria in cells healthy, people are less likely to get cancer. He said this can be achieved through a certain period of fasting (drinking only water), a low-carb diet, and exercise.

He also emphasized that high carbs and un-nutritious foods such as junk food can cause cancer, and advised to stay away from such foods. It’s not just cancer, diseases like Alzheimer’s, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity, among others are all related to the Western diet.

“As soon as the Western diet comes into the population, you get cancer … and diabetes and things like this.”

 

Republished from: https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/expert-explains-cancer-may-be-metabolic-disease-and-shares-a-cure_4840835.html

Could the Metabolic Approach to Treating Cancer Be Wrong?

The current cancer treatment paradigm is simply inexcusable, as Big Pharma and Big Medicine use dishonest fear tactics to force people into using toxic chemicals to not only kill off cancer cells, but harm healthy cells as well.

These “experts” fail to understand that cancer cells are in nearly every case normal cells that have merely lost their way because they were exposed to the factors we’ve talked about that destroy mitochondrial cellular energy production.

The loss of this cellular energy prevents cells from being able to repair themselves, thereby causing them to go rogue and eventually kill their host. One of their key treatment approaches - chemotherapy – is nothing more than a potent mitochondrial poison.

While its use may marginally extend life, the net assault to healthy cells and the immune system is often enough to virtually eliminate any possibility of ever recovering from the disease no matter what natural interventions are implemented, including mine.

In recent years, the metabolic approach has emerged as a prominent alternative cancer therapy. Based on molecular biology, it embraces the work of Otto Warburg – or the Warburg effect.

It was Dr. Thomas Seyfried, a professor of biology and author of the brilliant book and paper the Metabolic Theory of Cancer, that inspired me to study and understand the science of treating cancer.

Seyfried developed very compelling arguments that cancer is a metabolic disease and not a genetic anomaly. According to Seyfried, the root of cancer lies in dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism.

However, according to Dr Mercola:

Today, I agree with everything in his theory up until he claims a ketogenic or low carb diet is the answer to treating and preventing cancer.

For years, I followed the experts like Seyfried and adopted these recommendations of engaging in a low carb diet to optimize my biology.

During this time, I wrote the best-selling book “Fat for Fuel” and strongly endorsed a low carb keto diet along with fasting. I fully embraced the concept that carbs needed to be avoided like the plague and I consumed less than 100 grams of carbs a day – and frequently under 50 grams.

Things did not go well for me, but this was before I discovered Dr. Ray Peat’s bioenergetic approach. That’s when I began to understand the serious metabolic dangers of low carb diets...

I’ve recently increased my carbs to 500 grams per day, mostly in the form of rice and ripe fruit.

Largely through studying the work of Dr. Peat’s bioenergetic model of health, I have come to realize that not only cancer, but virtually every disease is a result of impaired mitochondrial function and an inability to create enough cellular energy.

I had previously interviewed many of my peers and influential figures in the low carb space who advocated and promoted the idea that a low-carb, high-fat diet could effectively treat conditions like obesity and diabetes.

However, I began to observe a common issue among these individuals. Many of them suffered from high fasting glucose levels and alarmingly low testosterone levels.

When I started to shift my recommendations from low carb to including at least 200 grams of carbs a day – based on Dr. Peat’s teachings – many of these individuals expressed violent opposition to my new position.

I sought to dialog with them but I found them to be too entrenched in their belief in these restrictive diets to discuss the evidence with me. All these low carb leaders believed like I did previously that we have no minimum daily requirement for carbs because our body can create the carbs we need.

While this may be partly true, it is a serious misinterpretation of the facts.

We discuss this topic in depth – and much more – in Your Guide to Cellular Health: Unlocking the Science of Longevity and Joy to help you understand why I believe following a low-carb diet is a prescription for metabolic disaster.

Worse, it could even cause you to die prematurely, as this type of ultra-restrictive diet can hinder your body’s ability to create the cellular energy it needs for optimal health.


Refined carbohydrates or sugars, which are also sometimes referred to as free sugars, include those that are added to ultraprocessed foods and drinks. High-fructose corn syrup is an example of a refined sugar. These sugars are linked to health problems such as dental decay and heart disease, as well as cancer.

Intrinsic sugars, also known as naturally occurring sugars, are those found within the cellular structure of foods, including whole fruits and vegetables. These sugars are part of the food's natural composition, not added during processing, and come with the beneficial nutrients and fiber found in whole foods, which can slow down sugar absorption and mitigate its impact on blood sugar levels.

One of the primary differences between these two types of sugars is that refined sugars, as well as many starches, are a common cause of endotoxin production in your gut, which destroys mitochondrial function and results in cancer metabolism.

The fructose present in whole foods does not typically result in the production of endotoxin. This is one of the primary differences between refined sugar and fructose from ripe fruit and helps explain why refined sugars fuel cancer. However, adding healthy carbs to your diet can be beneficial.

The key to remember is that optimal health is an ongoing journey and you must listen to your body to determine the best macronutrient ratio for you. You’ll also get a dramatically different outcome if your macronutrients come from highly processed fake foods — like processed foods high in Linoleic Acid (Omega-6) — compared to those from healthy whole foods.

If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't

Editor's Note: How are mitochondrial health and metabolic syndrome related?

Metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and diabetes are all associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that combine hypertension, hyperglycemia, abdominal obesity, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Metabolic syndrome greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and Type two diabetes. There are numerous reports mentioning mitochondrial dysfunction and lower oxidative capacity in patients with Type two diabetes compared with healthy individuals.


Read More: This article is part of the Winning the War on Cancer series.

This article is also part of the diet and cancer series. Other diet and cancer related articles in the series:

Best Anti Cancer Supplements (Research Review 2024)



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