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Review
. 2024 Aug 21;16(8):e67434.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.67434. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Uncovering the Links Between Dietary Sugar and Cancer: A Narrative Review Exploring the Impact of Dietary Sugar and Fasting on Cancer Risk and Prevention

Ashik Anil  1 , Ronak Raheja  2 , Diya Gibu  3 , Aravind S Raj  4 , S Spurthi  5
Affiliations
Review

Uncovering the Links Between Dietary Sugar and Cancer: A Narrative Review Exploring the Impact of Dietary Sugar and Fasting on Cancer Risk and Prevention

Ashik Anil et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Over the last several years, the scientific community has grown concerned about the relationship between dietary sugar intake and cancer development. The main causes of concern are the increasing intake of processed foods rich in sugar and the rising incidence of cancer cases. This study aims to uncover the complex relationship between sugar consumption and cancer development and its progression, with a particular focus on investigating whether fasting can protect against this condition. Our review provides a detailed discussion of the molecular aspects of the sugar-cancer relationship and an analysis of the existing literature. It explains how sugar affects cell signaling, inflammation, and hormonal pathways associated with the development of cancer. We also explored the new role of fasting in the prevention of cancer and its impact on cancer patients. This encompasses fasting-triggered autophagy, metabolic alterations, and possible health benefits, which form the major concern of this paper. Thus, by deepening the knowledge of these relations and providing the results of the analysis accompanied by concise and meaningful illustrations to facilitate the understanding of the data, we open the door to the further development of ideas to minimize the rates of cancer and improve overall well-being.

Keywords: cancer cell metabolism; cancer prevention; fasting; obesity and cancer; sugar and cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Glucose metabolism in normal cells and cancer cells based on Warburg theory
O2: oxygen; HK2: hexokinase 2; PDC: pyruvate dehydrogenase complex; LDHA: lactate dehydrogenase A; PDK: pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases This figure is an original illustration created by the first author.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Pathophysiological relationship between obesity and cancer development
SCFAs: short chain fatty acids; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; IL-6: interleukin 6. This figure is an original illustration created by the first author.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Mechanism of fasting in inducing cancer cell death and cancer risk reduction
ROS: reactive oxygen species; ATP: adenosine triphosphate; AMPK: adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; ULK1: unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase 1; IL-6: interleukin 6; CRP: C-reactive protein; IGF-1: insulin-like growth factor 1. This figure is an original illustration created by the first author.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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