Could cancer be a functional deviation of the cellular energy production mechanism that is open to correction by relatively simple means instead of a genetic mutation that is passed down through cell division? Heinrich Kremer, MD, says that this is indeed the case. His hypothesis of a photon-mediated cellular energy pathway may turn out to substantially add to our understanding of what cancer is, and why such natural substances as curcumin may be effective cancer fighting agents.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) - a curative spice and coloring agent -
Image from Wilsonart.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer accounted for 13 per cent of deaths world wide in 2005. The trend is rising, which means we have not found the real cause of the disease. Our efforts to treat cancer are centered on symptoms, rather than the factors that cause the disease.

The WHO's cancer information page also says that cancer is the result of a genetic failure of cells:

Cancer arises from one single cell. The transformation from a normal cell into a tumour cell is a multistage process, typically a progression from a pre-cancerous lesion to malignant tumours...

Cancer researchers however have long known that cancer cells are distinguished from their 'normal' cousins by an alteration of the cells' energy metabolism. The mitochondria inside the cells become inactive and the cells switch to a secondary mode of energy production that is based on the fermentation of sugars. This metabolic change has recently been confirmed by a study at Johns Hopkins.

The Hopkins scientists report that the loss of a single gene in kidney cancer cells causes them to stop making mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses of the cell that consume oxygen to generate energy.

Instead, the cancer cells use the less efficient process of fermentation, which generates less energy but does not require oxygen. As a result, the cancer cells must take in large amounts of glucose.

Researchers at the University of Alberta recently discovered a relatively simple way to re-activate the mitochondria and make them re-start normal energy production, using a commonly available substance, dichloroacetate or DCA:

Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the U of A Department of Medicine, has shown that dichloroacetate (DCA) causes regression in several cancers, including lung, breast, and brain tumors.

Michelakis and his colleagues, including post-doctoral fellow Dr. Sebastian Bonnet, have published the results of their research in the journal Cancer Cell.

Scientists and doctors have used DCA for decades to treat children with inborn errors of metabolism due to mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondria, the energy producing units in cells, have been connected with cancer since the 1930s, when researchers first noticed that these organelles dysfunction when cancer is present.