While studying the metabolisms of different types of cancer, researchers at the University of Texas in Dallas discovered that certain types of cancers are heavily dependent on sugars (carbohydrates).
Squamous cell carcinoma, in particular, is very dependent on sugar to thrive and spread. The study itself focused on two different types of lung cancer: squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma can occur at a number of locations in the body, and it is universally difficult to treat.
During the course of the study, mice with lung cancer we given a glucose uptake inhibitor. This prevented sugar from being transported to the cells of the animal for energy. The mice with adenocarcinoma showed no change in tumor growth. The mice with squamous cell carcinoma showed a marked decrease in cancer progression.
Researchers applied these findings to other types of squamous cell carcinoma and found that cancers of the head neck, cervix, and esophagus are also extremely dependent on sugars. These findings have huge implications for slowing squamous cell cancer progression by eliminating sugars from the diet.