Krebs cycle: activators, inhibitors and their roles in the modulation of carcinogenesis

What is it about?

A fundamental metabolic feature of cancerous tissues is high glucose consumption.

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Why is it important?

The rate of glucose consumption in a cancer cell can be 10–15 times higher than in normal cells. Isolation and cultivation of tumor cells in vitro highlight properties that are associated with intensive glucose utilization, the presence of minimal oxidative metabolism, an increase in lactate concentrations in the culture medium and a reduced rate of oxygen consumption. Although glycolysis is suggested as a general feature of malignant cells and recently identified as a possible contributing factor to tumor progression, several studies highlight distinct metabolic characteristics in some tumors, including a relative decrease in avidity compared to glucose and/or a glutamine dependency of lactate and even proliferative tumor cells.

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