Excessive sugar consumption is known as a major cause of diabetes. A study found that the impact of sugar not only that, but also strengthen the cancer cells. This disease using sugar to weaken the immune system.
Regardless of the many treatments available today, in fact the human body naturally has an immune system that can fight cancer. But a recent study shows that the destructive immune response of cancer cells to use all the sugar in the blood.
Tumors often grow in areas that contain many blood vessels. The goal is to make sure he gets a lot of nutrients from the blood, including sugar. It turns out this habit is not only to increase growth alone.
The main part of the body's immune system to fight the tumor is functioning white blood cells called T cells The germ cells that target other cells in the immune system knows which cells to be destroyed.
The trick is to first bind to foreign substances and then release inflammatory agents to mark it, and then call the other parts of the immune system to help destroy it.
To make inflammatory agent, T cells need sugar, because these substances are byproducts of cellular energy usage. But if all the sugar has been used in tumor cells, T cells can not release body chemicals to warn dangerous threat.
In the study, when no tumor cells, higher blood sugar levels that can be widely used by T cells But when there is a tumor, T cells can not use sugar at all, in fact almost no sugar is left because it is used all by tumor cells.
Fortunately, T cells can still survive from the lack of sugar by using alternative ways to produce energy. This way that enables T cells can survive without sugar. The same thing can not be done by tumor cells to survive.
Previous research has shown that the lack of sugar can trigger tumor cell death, because it will increase oxygen levels in the blood. Oxygen is toxic to the tumor because it can not be used. As a result, the tumor will die if exposed to oxygen.
Fortunately, the effect of sugar on T cells can be reversed. As reported by Medical Daily, Friday (07/06/2013), when T cells are alive with tumor given extra sugar, function returned to normal and make inflammatory agents may mark the tumor cells to be destroyed.
"It's like an on-off switch. Thing we need to do is change the availability of sugar that T cells can adapt and get back to work in ideal conditions. We might be able to find a way to make T cells fight back against cancer," said the researcher, Dr. Erika L. Pearce, Ph.D.
According to investigators, the flexibility and rigidity of T cells by tumor cells use sugar can be used in treatment. The researchers found that without sugar, T cells can survive, but can not make inflammatory agent. If during treatment with an added sugar, T cells can function normally.