How a high-sugar diet helps cancer grow

Scientists have known for nearly a hundred years that sugar promotes cancer—and now researchers have figured out how it happens.

They’ve discovered that cancer cells use glucose in the blood to create a shield that makes them invisible to the immune system’s killer cells.

A high-sugar carbohydrate diet feeds the process, say researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.  They have seen how cancer cells evade the immune system by surrounding themselves with a dense layer of sugar-derived molecules, which can act as a form of camouflage, making it harder for immune cells to recognize and destroy them.

A low-sugar diet could be one way to interrupt the process and make cancer cells more visible, they say.

Metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, both linked to hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, could also be harnessing similar ‘hide-and-seek’ tactics, the researchers say.

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