O. Warburg
May 1, 1956
Citations
54
Influential Citations
997
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Science
Abstract
The article presents a summary of the current concept concerning the fundamental nature of cancer cells, and the steps which lead to their development, presently held by one of the world's outstanding enzymologists. Insight into the knowledge of the fundamental metabolic characteristics of cancer cells is provided. The potential, biologically utilizable energy production of cells is derived from 2 stable independent metabolic processes, respiration and anaerobic fermentation. Respiration is measured by the oxygen consumption of cells that are saturated with oxygen. Fermentation is measured by the formation of lactic acid in the absence of oxygen. Normal cells derive their energy primarily from respiration, and cancer cells primarily from fermentation. Cancer cells are considered to originate from normal cells in 2 phases. The first phase is an irreversible injury of respiration. All of the many carcinogenic agents produce their effect by an irreversible injury of respiration. The second phase in cancer formation is a result of a long struggle for existence by the injured cells to maintain their structure. As result of the morphological inferiority, based on obtaining energy from fermentation, the highly differentiated body cells are converted into undifferentiated cells that grow wildly. An outline of the evidence upon which this conception is based is provided. The use of pure strains of malignant cells in tissue culture in research concerning metabolism of these cells is outlined. These tissue cultures provide a new tool for the evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents.