While these findings need further investigation, they suggest that reducing sugary drinks, targeting SORD, or repurposing statins may benefit patients with colorectal cancer
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US researchers have found that the glucose-fructose mix found in sugary drinks directly fuels the spread in cases of advanced colorectal cancer.
To meet nutritional needs, many patients with cancer are encouraged to have nutritional supplement drinks and concentrated juices that contain high glucose and fructose content.
A team from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center studied how sugary drinks may affect late-stage colorectal cancer.
"Our findings highlight that daily diet matters not only for cancer risk but also for how the disease progresses once it has developed," said Jihye Yun, Assistant Professor of Genetics, at the varsity.
Using laboratory cancer models, they compared the effects of the glucose-fructose mix found in most sugary drinks with those of glucose or fructose alone.
Only the sugar mix made cancer cells more mobile, leading to faster spread to the liver -- the most common site of colorectal cancer metastasis.
The sugar mix activated an enzyme called sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD), which boosts glucose metabolism and triggers the cholesterol pathway, ultimately driving metastasis.
This is the same pathway targeted by statins, common heart drugs that inhibit cholesterol production.
Blocking SORD slowed metastasis, even with the sugar mix present. These findings, published in the Nature Metabolism journal, suggest that targeting SORD could also offer an opportunity to block metastasis.
Sugar has long been indirectly linked to an increase in cancer risk through obesity.
A previous study by Yun's lab showed that even moderate intake of sugary drinks directly fueled tumour growth in early-stage colorectal cancer, independent of obesity.
Further, Yun explained it may be worthwhile to consider revisions to current dietary recommendations to reduce sugary drink consumption in cancer patients.
"While these findings need further investigation, they suggest that reducing sugary drinks, targeting SORD, or repurposing statins may benefit patients with colorectal cancer," Yu said.
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