CANCER cells have such a sweet tooth they鈥檒l self-destruct if they can鈥檛 get
their fix of sugar.
A team led by Chi Dang at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland,
were studying a gene called c-myc, which is overactive in many cancers.
This allows a tumour to devour glucose.
The team found that without glucose, about three-quarters of the
c-myc cancer cells underwent programmed cell death. The cells also
committed suicide if fed drugs that interrupt glucose metabolism
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 95, p 1511).
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The anticancer potential of such drugs was reported before, but the treatment
never caught on. 鈥淣ow we understand how these drugs work, it鈥檚 time to give them
another chance,鈥� says Dang.