Cancer a Redox Disease
Cancer cells are universally disturbed in their electronic energy balance, an understanding that potentially revolutionises cancer therapy and prevention Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Two opposing approaches to cancer therapy
We are losing the war on cancer, targeting specific cancer gene mutations does not work, and for good reasons (see [1] Personalized Medicine for Cancer Fact or Fiction? SiS 54). Not only are the mutations remarkably diverse, differing between individuals and between parts within a single tumour, cancer cells soon become resistant to new drugs. Some say pomegranate the fruit has parts that may help in the cancer fight.
Cancer Is More Than a Genetic Mistake
For years, we were told cancer is mainly a genetic disease. Mutations happen. Cells lose control. Tumors grow.
However, that explanation feels incomplete.
There is growing recognition that cancer may be an epigenetic response to chronic stress. In other words, the environment inside the body shapes cell behavior as much as DNA does.
Yes, mutations exist. Yet redundancy in signaling pathways allows many “adaptive” changes. Cells shift. They survive. They multiply. Eventually, they may transform.
That is why personalized medicine, which targets specific genes, faces a serious obstacle. Tumors are genetically heterogeneous. One mutation blocked, another pathway activates.
Instead, many researchers now look at something more fundamental: metabolism.
The Warburg Discovery
In the 1920s, Otto Heinrich Warburg discovered something radical.
Normal cells use oxygen in mitochondria to extract energy efficiently. This process produces about 36 ATP molecules per glucose.
Cancer cells behave differently. Even when oxygen is available, they rely heavily on glycolysis. This phenomenon is called the Warburg effect.
Glycolysis is fast, yet inefficient. It produces far less ATP per glucose. Still, cancer cells consume enormous amounts of glucose.
That is precisely how PET scans detect tumors. A radioactive glucose analog lights up where glucose uptake is excessive.
Why would cancer cells choose a less efficient pathway? Because glycolysis provides carbon building blocks. Those building blocks support rapid cell division.
So cancer metabolism is not random. It is adaptive.
Why I Call It a Redox Disease
Many now call cancer a metabolic disease. I go one step deeper.
Cancer is fundamentally a redox disease.
Life itself runs on electron flow. Reduction and oxidation reactions move electrons through cells. These redox reactions power energy production, signaling, and survival.
Mitochondria are not just powerhouses. They are electrical hubs. They maintain a delicate membrane potential. They regulate life and death.
Cancer cells often have hyperpolarized mitochondrial membranes. That means their electrical potential is abnormally negative.
At the same time, they resist apoptosis, the programmed cell death that normally eliminates dysfunctional cells.
Energy imbalance meets survival signaling. That is not simply genetic. It is electrical.
Mitochondria, ROS, and the Suicide Switch
Mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) during electron transport. These include superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals.
At low levels, ROS act as signaling molecules. They promote proliferation under chronic stress. That may predispose cells to malignancy.
However, at higher levels, ROS trigger apoptosis.
Researchers such as Evangelos Michelakis studied dichloroacetate (DCA), a compound that reactivates pyruvate dehydrogenase. This shifts metabolism away from glycolysis and back toward mitochondrial oxidation.
When that shift occurs, mitochondrial membrane potential normalizes. Cytochrome c is released. Apoptosis begins. Tumors shrink in experimental models.
So the suicide switch still exists. It is simply suppressed.
A company makes redox and here is the image
The Bigger Picture
For decades, molecular biology dominated the cancer narrative. Yet biochemistry is returning.
Cancer is not only about faulty genes. It is about energy flow. It is about mitochondrial coherence. It is about redox balance.
When electron transport becomes disordere
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