Cancer Risk Journal of Nursing

Going Against the Norm: Treating Cancer as a Metabolic Disease

Tags: aging cancer cancer patients cancer risk chemotherapy metabolic metabolic disease oncology preventing cancer therapy treatment treatment options

The current treatment for someone diagnosed with cancer is no longer acceptable. The focus needs to shift away from our standard treatments which so often causes pain as well as physical and emotional suffering. Emerging research about the body’s cellular metabolism provides new hope for cancer prevention and treatment. A number of mechanisms present in the human body are known to inhibit cancer cell growth by providing the body with an alternative fuel source, one that cancer cells cannot metabolize. For instance, induced ketosis offers a physiological means of regulating glucose metabolism in cancer patients while suppressing tumor metabolism and progression while ketone production significantly produces anti-cancer effects by shifting the body’s fuel source from a glucose dependency to one that is ketone based. Even while there remains controversy over the occurrence of many types of cancer, recent research has unveiled promising results towards cancer prevention and treatment. Emerging evidence indicates cancer is primarily a metabolic disease. According to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2014) research is being done to look at the connection between body weight, sugar intake, insulin levels and their correlation to cancer. Understanding the cellular metabolism of cancer is necessary in order to find preventative and holistic treatment modalities and for this to occur, a paradoxical shift in our current perception of cancer treatment is necessary.