健康细胞转变为癌细胞的示意图。
实证研究进一步支持一种假设：散发性癌症(sporadic form of cancer)是一种与年龄有关的代谢疾病。该疾病特征在于(1)代谢失调(metabolic dysregulation)，同时线粒体DNA产生随机性异常；(2)代谢变化：补偿性上调糖酵解代谢来弥补线粒体缺陷造成的氧化磷酸化作用下调，这样癌细胞主要依靠糖酵解来获取能量。在这项研究中，研究人员利用量子代谢理论(theory of quantum metabolism)和自然选择法则(principles of natural selection)来给出一种定量分析癌症起源和增殖的概念框架。
量子代谢理论用来描述量子过程，如量子纠缠，如何影响细胞代谢。这种理论给科学家们提供一种的新方法来解释导致健康细胞转变为癌细胞的代谢变化。
这种转变让癌细胞在争夺空间和营养物过程中比健康细胞更有竞争优势，从而导致癌症产生和扩散。
研究人员声称，理解这种转变的量子代谢基础可能潜在地导致科学家们开发出新的治疗方法来阻止癌症生长。相关研究结果于2012年3月19日发表在AIP Advances期刊上。(生物谷：towersimper编译)
doi:10.1063/1.3697850
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Implications of quantum metabolism and natural selection for the origin of cancer cells and tumor progression
Paul Davies, Lloyd A. Demetrius, and Jack A. Tuszynski
Empirical studies give increased support for the hypothesis that the sporadic form of cancer is an age-related metabolic disease characterized by: (a) metabolic dysregulation with random abnormalities in mitochondrial DNA, and (b) metabolic alteration – the compensatory upregulation of glycolysis to offset mitochondrial impairments. This paper appeals to the theory of Quantum Metabolism and the principles of natural selection to formulate a conceptual framework for a quantitative analysis of the origin and proliferation of the disease. Quantum Metabolism, an analytical theory of energy transduction in cells inspired by the methodology of the quantum theory of solids, elucidates the molecular basis for differences in metabolic rate between normal cells, utilizing predominantly oxidative phosphorylation, and cancer cells utilizing predominantly glycolysis. The principles of natural selection account for the outcome of competition between the two classes of cells. Quantum Metabolism and the principles of natural selection give an ontogenic and evolutionary rationale for cancer proliferation and furnish a framework for effective therapeutic strategies to impede the spread of the disease.
