Hyperglycemia and cancer in human lung carcinoma by means of Raman spectroscopy and imaging

This study used Raman spectroscopy and imaging to analyze human lung cancer cells and their response to glucose and deuterated glucose under normal and hyperglycemic conditions. The results showed that substituting glucose with deuterated glucose allowed the distinction between de novo lipid synthesis and lipid uptake from the diet. It was observed that glucose is primarily used for de novo lipid synthesis and that high glucose levels decrease mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, leading to a shift towards glycolysis (Warburg effect). This suggests that hyperglycemia may contribute to a more aggressive cancer phenotype by inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation and apoptosis.