A German doctor named Otto Warburg was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1931 for his research proving that cancer cells use a form of non-oxygen metabolism to survive. Cancer cells are not like normal healthy cells. The way they metabolize and create energy for living and multiplication is unique and dangerous.
Healthy cells are aerobic, meaning that they function properly in the presence of sufficient oxygen. Healthy cells metabolize (burn) oxygen and glucose (blood sugar) to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy “currency” of the cells. Cancer cells on the other hand are anaerobic meaning they function without oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, the cell reverts to a primitive nutritional program to sustain itself, converting glucose, by fermentation. The lactic acid produced by fermentation lowers the cell pH (acid/alkaline balance) and destroys the ability of DNA and RNA to control cell division … the cancer cells begin to multiply unchecked.
Warburg emphasized that you can’t make a cell ferment unless a lack of oxygen is involved. In 1955, two American scientists, R.A. Malmgren and C.C. Flanigan, confirmed Warburg’s findings. They found that oxygen deficiency is ALWAYS present when cancer develops. What Warburg found, however, is you can reverse fermentation simply by adding oxygen. When you flood the cancer cell with oxygen, you can regain apoptosis, their programmable cell death. If you put enough oxygen into a cancer cell it will turn on the Krebs Cycle (the mitochondria) and this reignites the program for cell death.
It is based on this monumental research that Utopia Cancer Center offers oxygen therapy as part of our Intensive Medical Program.
Cancer Cell Metabolism: Warburg and Beyond. Peggy P. Hsu1, 2, David M. Sabatini1, 2, 3, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2008.08.021
Warburg, me and Hexokinase 2: Multiple discoveries of key molecular events underlying one of cancers’ most common phenotypes, the “Warburg Effect”, i.e., elevated glycolysis in the presence of oxygen. Pedersen, P.L. J Bioenerg Biomembr (2007) 39: 211. doi:10.1007/s10863-007-9094-x
The Warburg Effect: Why and How Do Cancer Cells Activate Glycolysis in the Presence of Oxygen? Author: Lopez-Lazaro, Miguel; Source: Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry – Anti-Cancer Agents), Volume 8, Number 3, April 2008, pp. 305-312(8)
Cancer’s Molecular Sweet Tooth and the Warburg Effect. Jung-whan Kim and Chi V. Dang. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-1501 Published September 2006
Energy Boost: The Warburg Effect Returns in a New Theory of Cancer. Ken Garber J Natl Cancer Inst (2004) 96 (24): 1805-1806. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/96.24.1805. Published: 15 December 2004
Metabolic Reprogramming: A Cancer Hallmark Even Warburg Did Not Anticipate. Patrick S. Ward1, 2, Craig B. Thompson1, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2012.02.014
On the Origin of Cancer Cells. Otto Warburg. Science, New Series, Vol. 123, No. 3191. (Feb. 24, 1956), pp. 309-314. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-8075%2819560224%293%3A123%3A3191%3C309%3AOTOOCC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2. Science is currently published by American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Understanding the Warburg Effect: The Metabolic Requirements of Cell Proliferation. Matthew G. Vander Heiden1,2, Lewis C. Cantley2, Craig B. Thompson3,* Science 22 May 2009: Vol. 324, Issue 5930, pp. 1029-1033
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160809
Oxygen Consumption Can Regulate the Growth of Tumors, a New Perspective on the Warburg Effect. Yijun Chen, Rob Cairns, Ioanna Papandreou, Albert Koong , Nicholas C. Denko. Published: September 15, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007033
Mitochondrial Uncoupling and the Warburg Effect: Molecular Basis for the Reprogramming of Cancer Cell Metabolism. Ismael Samudio, Michael Fiegl and Michael Andreeff. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3722 Published March 2009
Otto Warburg’s contributions to current concepts of cancer metabolism. Willem H. Koppenol1, Patricia L. Bounds1 & Chi V. Dang2 . Nature Reviews Cancer 11, 325-337 (May 2011) | doi:10.1038/nrc3038
Corrected online: 14 July 2011
Blood Flow, Oxygen and Nutrient Supply, and Metabolic Microenvironment of Human Tumors: A Review1. Peter Vaupel,2 Friedrich Rallino«ski, and Paul Okunieff. Department of Radiation Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Nutrient transporters in cancer: Relevance to Warburg hypothesis and beyond. Vadivel Ganapathy, Muthusamy Thangaraju, Puttur D. Prasad. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 121, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 29–40
