Research on the causes of cells turning into cancer cells

Zong Ruhua; Zhang Aihua

doi:10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.015

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Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer ›› 2026, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (4) : 563-569. DOI: 10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.015

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Research on the causes of cells turning into cancer cells

¹Zong Ruhua, ²Zhang Aihua

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Abstract

The Warburg effect, proposed by Otto Warburg in 1924, describes the preferential glycolysis occurring in cancer cells even under aerobic conditions. His original hypothesis attributed this phenomenon to irreversible impairment of cellular respiration and regarded such respiratory damage as the driving force of carcinogenesis, yet this theory failed to gain widespread academic recognition because certain cancer cells retain robust mitochondrial respiratory activity. This review systematically sorts out and resolves the apparent contradiction between the coexistence of the Warburg effect and functional mitochondrial respiration in cancer cells. It proposes that irreversible damage to Complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain triggers a positive feedback loop of lipid synthesis, which constitutes the core mechanism underlying cell carcinogenesis, whereas lipid metabolism in normal cells is precisely regulated by negative feedback pathways. Lipid synthesis in cancer cells is highly dependent on glutamine rather than glucose, and lipid biosynthesis is an essential prerequisite for the proliferation and division of tumor cells. Based on this metabolic characteristic, developing specific inhibitors targeting glutaminase, glutamate dehydrogenase, alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase is expected to become a novel strategy for cancer treatment.

Key words

Cells / Malignant transformatio / Causes / Mitochondria / Main respiratory chain / Complex I / Abnormalities

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Zong Ruhua, Zhang Aihua. Research on the causes of cells turning into cancer cells[J]. Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer. 2026, 13(4): 563-569 https://doi.org/10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.04.015

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