Fructose and tumour growth in animal models
What it found
In mice and zebrafish, dietary fructose made several types of tumours grow faster, but the cancer cells could not use fructose directly.
The fructose was first broken down by the liver into lipids that the tumours then used.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Tumour growth in animals
In zebrafish and mice with melanoma, breast cancer or cervical cancer, fructose supplementation made tumours grow faster than in control animals. This happened without weight gain or signs of insulin resistance.
Cancer cells cannot use fructose
When cancer cells were grown in lab dishes with fructose as the only sugar, they grew much more slowly than with glucose. The cells took fructose in but could not break it down efficiently because they lacked the enzyme KHK-C.
Liver converts fructose to lipids
Liver cells did have KHK-C and broke fructose down, releasing lipid molecules including lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs). In co-culture experiments, cancer cells consumed these LPCs and used them to build cell membranes.
Fructose raises serum LPCs
Mice given high-fructose corn syrup had more than sevenfold higher levels of several LPC species in their blood serum. Giving LPCs directly to mice increased tumour growth.
Blocking KHK slows tumours
A drug that blocks ketohexokinase had no direct effect on cancer cells in lab dishes. In mice on a high-fructose diet, it lowered circulating LPC levels and prevented fructose from speeding up tumour growth.
What the authors conclude
“These findings reveal that fructose supplementation increases circulating nutrients such as LPCs, which can enhance tumour growth through a cell non-autonomous mechanism.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that one way high fructose consumption promotes tumour growth in their models is by increasing the availability of LPCs to cancer cells.
- They suggest that future studies examine the possibility of LPC use by tumours as a potential therapeutic target.
How it was done
Fructose consumption has risen sharply over the past five decades, mainly because of high-fructose corn syrup. The authors wanted to understand how fructose might promote tumour growth, since most fructose is metabolised by the small intestine and liver, leaving little to reach tumours directly.
They studied zebrafish with melanoma and mice with melanoma, breast, cervical and other tumours. Some animals were given high-fructose corn syrup, fructose water or fructose-containing chow, and tumour growth was compared with control animals. They also ran lab experiments mixing cancer cells with liver cells and tracked labelled fructose to see where it went.
What it can’t tell you
- These are animal and lab studies.
- They cannot show whether the same mechanism happens in people or whether fructose affects tumour growth in humans.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NCI NIH HHS; NCATS NIH HHS; NIDDK NIH HHS; NIEHS NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Competing interests: B.N.F. is a stockholder and member of the scientific advisory board of Cirius Therapeutics. G.J.P. is a scientific advisory board member for Cambridge Isotope Laboratories and has a collaborative research agreement with Agilent Technologies. G.J.P. is the Chief Scientific Officer of Panome Bio.
- Authors work at
- Washington University, USA; Washington University School of Medicine, USA; Saint Louis University School of Medicine, USA
The paper
- Title
- Dietary fructose enhances tumour growth indirectly via interorgan lipid transfer
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Fowle-Grider R, Rowles JL, Shen I, et al (2024). Dietary fructose enhances tumour growth indirectly via interorgan lipid transfer. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08258-3Free full textPubMed 39633044DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error