Eating a specific type of sugar can speed up cancers and make them deadlier, according to new research.
Fructose, which is added to thousands of foods and drinks in the United States, has been found to accelerate the growth of certain types of skin, breast and cervical tumors.
Researchers discovered that the liver converts this type of sugar into components that tumors need to build new cells and grow.
The faster a tumor grows, the more aggressive the cancer can become, capable of taking over a person’s body before they can fight back.
Added fructose is sugar that is extracted from sources such as corn and added to processed foods, most commonly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
Some initial studies have suggested that eating more of these processed sugars could not only speed up cancer growth, but could also be a cause of some types of cancer.
Added fructose is different from fruit fructose, a natural sugar found in fruits that is often accompanied by fiber and other nutrients that slow its absorption into the blood.
In the US, manufacturers are generally allowed to add fructose to foods without limitation, meaning it is found in large amounts in many different processed foods.
Olivia Munn, 43, has undergone at least five major surgeries since she was diagnosed with luminal B cancer in both breasts in April 2023.
Khloe Kardashian, 40, shares her story online about developing melanoma, a type of skin cancer, on her cheek, and needing to have it removed.
Similarly, developed countries have imposed limits on the additive. The EU only allows a fraction of sugar in its processed foods.
This creates a food system in the U.S. where fructose and high-fructose corn syrup are found in sweetened products, such as soda, fruit juice, and yogurt, as well as unexpected products, such as pasta sauce and salad dressings.
Study author Gary Patti, a professor of chemistry, genetics and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, said: “One take-home message from this current study is that if you are unlucky enough to get cancer, then you probably want to think about avoiding it.” fructose. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.”
This is because fructose is added to many of the foods Americans eat every day.
The average American consumes about 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day, which is more than double the amount recommended by the American Heart Association.
According to WashU, it is the favorite sweetener of many manufacturers because it is sweeter than other options, such as glucose.
Dr. Patti said it’s found in “almost everything,” meaning “unless you’re actively looking to avoid it, it’s probably part of your diet.”
Because this form of sugar has become so common in American diets, researchers decided to investigate its effects on cancer, as previous studies had found that other types of sugar could be used to feed cancer.
Their study specifically looked at breast and cervical cancer, as well as melanoma.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S., affecting approximately 312,000 people each year, according to the NIH. Actress Olivia Munn, 43, was diagnosed with a form of the disease last year and has publicly shared her journey battling it.
Cervical cancer and melanoma are less common, affecting approximately 11,500 and 100,640 Americans each year.
The research, published in the journal NatureThey used mice and fish with cancer and tumors grown in a Petri dish to discover how cancer could use fructose.
‘We were surprised to see that it had quite a dramatic impact. In some cases, the growth rate of the tumors accelerated by double or even more, Patti said, adding: “Eating a lot of fructose was clearly very bad for the progression of these tumors.”
First, they fed foods containing fructose to animals with tumors.
They saw that although his overall weight remained stable, the size of the tumor began to swell.
They then looked at the tumors grown in the lab, assuming that giving the cells sugar would make them grow.
But when the tumors were given fructose, they grew at the same slow rate as if they had had no sugar on the plate.
Then Dr. Patti and his team realized there had to be a middleman.
This graph shows that the total amount of sugar supplied to food and beverage manufacturers over time has been increasing, approaching 1970s levels. Millions of Americans still consume about 300 percent of the recommended amount of sugar.
Going back to the animal studies, they used a complex technique called metabolomics, which allows researchers to track chemicals, drugs or nutrients as they move through the body, they traced the path of fructose.
Dr Patti said: ‘When we think about tumors, we tend to focus on the dietary components they consume directly. You put something in your body and then imagine the tumor absorbing it.’
‘But humans are complex. “What you put into your body can be consumed by healthy tissue and then converted into something else that tumors use.”
It turns out that fructose is converted to fats in the liver, which are key components in building new cells. Each time the cancer forms a new cell, the tumor grows, becomes larger, or may spread throughout the body.
This can make it more deadly.
Although researchers said more research is needed to link the two with certainty, Dr. Patti said cancer patients should consider avoiding fructose, when they can.
Dr. Patti and his team hope that understanding how tumor cells use sugar to build themselves can help them find better ways to treat cancer in the future.
He said: “It will be interesting to better understand how dietary fructose influences cancer incidence.”