The Warburg effect: molecular aspects and therapeutic possibilities

Hanh Ngo, Stephanie M. Tortorella, Katherine Ververis, Tom C. Karagiannis

Research output: Contribution to journalReview ArticleResearchpeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It has been about nine decades since the proposal of Otto Warburg on the metabolism of cancer cells. Unlike normal cells which undergo glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of oxygen, proliferating and cancer cells exhibit an increased uptake of glucose and increased rate of glycolysis and predominantly undergo lactic acid fermentation. Whether this phenomenon is the consequence of genetic dysregulation in cancer or is the cause of cancer still remains unknown. However, there is certainly a strong link between the genetic factors, epigenetic modulation, cancer immunosurveillance and the Warburg effect, which will be discussed in this review. Dichloroacetate and 3-bromopyruvate are among the substances that have been studied as potential cancer therapies. With our expanding knowledge of cellular metabolism, therapies targeting the Warburg effect appear very promising. This review discusses different aspects of these emerging therapies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)825-834
Number of pages10
JournalMolecular Biology Reports
Volume42
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Warburg effect
  • Cancer metabolism
  • Glucose metabolism
  • Glycolysis
  • Metabolic therapy

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