Research indicates glucose helps immune cells fight cancer
Scientists at the Van Andel Institute have made a breakthrough discovery about glucose, a common sugar in the body, and its powerful role in helping immune cells called T cells fight cancer more effectively.
The study was published on September 2, 2025, in the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism.
As reported by Drug Target Review on Monday, T cells are critical defenders of the immune system. They seek out and destroy cancer cells.
Scientists previously believed T cells mainly used glucose as a source of energy to carry out their functions. However, this new research reveals that glucose does much more; it acts as a building block for important molecules that support T cells’ communication and cancer-killing abilities.
Dr. Joseph Longo, the study’s first author, explains: “We knew that T cells need access to glucose to function, but we didn’t know exactly why. It was thought glucose was just fuel, but our work shows that T cells use glucose to build large molecules called glycosphingolipids, or GSLs, which are crucial for their growth and activity.”
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GSLs are special sugar-fat compounds that help create structures called lipid rafts on the surface of T cells.
These rafts serve as command centres, organising proteins responsible for signalling the T cell to attack tumour cells. Without enough GSLs, these signals weaken, making T cells less effective at killing cancer.
Dr. Russell Jones, Ph.D., the senior author of the study, adds: “Both T cells and cancer cells use nutrients to support their different needs. Understanding how glucose specifically helps T cells will allow us to better support their natural cancer-fighting abilities, and possibly develop treatments to make cancer cells more vulnerable.”
This finding is significant because it broadens the understanding of immune cell metabolism and points to new ways to improve immunotherapies, treatments that boost the immune system to fight cancer more effectively.
The study was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and offers hope for smarter cancer treatments that optimise how T cells use nutrients like glucose in the tumour environment.
