The effect of 2-desoxy-D-glucose on glycolysis and respiration of tumor and normal tissues.

Inhibition of metabolism by structural analogs of metabolites is one of the newer concepts of chemotherapy. It seems possible that this concept might be applied to cancer by use of structural analogs of glucose to inhibit the glycolysis of the tumor cell, since tumor tissue in contrast to most normal tissues possesses the ability to glycolyze glucose at a high rate both anaerobically and aerobically (7). 2-Desoxy-D-glucose (2DG) is a structural ana log of glucose, differing from glucose only at the second carbon atom by the absence of one oxygen atom. This analog has been shown (2) to compete with glucose in the yeast fermentation system and, thereby, to inhibit fermentation of glucose. In a preliminary report (8) 2DG was also shown to inhibit the anaerobic glycolysis of rat tumor slices. The present report deals with further stud ies on the effect of 2DG on the metabolism of tu mor tissue. Studies have been included on the ef fect produced on the metabolism of a few normal tissues by 2DG.