In this week’s podcast, we discuss how cancer spreads throughout our body. This is referred to as metastasis. It’s important to understand how and why cancer spreads throughout the body because metastasis is the primary reason people are killed by cancer. It is responsible for 90% of all cancer deaths. 

The steps needed to be taken for metastasis to occur are complex and must be completed in a precise order. This is important to understand because the current teachings on cancer, referred to as the somatic theory of cancer, states that metastasis occurs through a process called EMT (epithelial to mesenchymal transition) followed by MET (mesenchymal to epithelial transition). Both of these steps try and explain metastasis in a way that lines up with the somatic theory of cancer. So, it basically blames metastasis on random gene mutations. 

This is an unnecessarily long and complicated explanation for metastasis because it tries to explain this process using the somatic theory as a base. However, if we use the metabolic theory as a base, understanding metastasis and explaining it becomes a million times easier. 

The metabolic theory of cancer explains metastasis like this: cells of our immune system like macrophages located within the primary tumor site, become metabolically dysfunctional through various metabolic stressors they experience within the tumor. Tumors are notoriously acidic and hypoxic making it difficult for normal cells to survive. The longer macrophages are subjected to these stressors, the more likely it is that they will become dysfunctional. These corrupted macrophages now possess all the necessary machinery and genetic code to spread throughout the body. 

There’s no need to explain metastasis through the complicated EMT and MET process because these steps aren’t needed for cancer to spread. Once a cell of our immune system like a macrophage becomes metabolically compromised, metastasis is possible because macrophages inherently possess all the tools needed to spread throughout the body. 

To learn more about how cancer spreads throughout our body, listen to this week’s podcast. 

Links To Papers Referenced

Consideration of Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy as a Complementary or Alternative Approach for Managing Breast Cancer

The pathogenesis of cancer metastasis: the ‘seed and soil’ hypothesis revisited

Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation

Therapeutic benefit of combining calorie-restricted ketogenic diet and glutamine targeting in late-stage experimental glioblastoma

On the Origin of Cancer Metastasis