Scientists at the Van Andel Institute have made an important discovery. They found that glucose, a common sugar in the body, helps immune cells called T cells fight cancer better.
Their study was published on September 2, 2025, in a respected science journal called Cell Metabolism.
According to Drug Target Review, T cells are key parts of the immune system. Their job is to find and destroy cancer cells.
Before this study, scientists thought T cells mainly used glucose for energy. But now they’ve learned that glucose also helps build important molecules that T cells need to talk to each other and attack cancer more effectively.
Dr. Joseph Longo, the lead author of the study, said: “We knew T cells needed glucose, but we didn’t know exactly why. We thought it was just fuel. Now we see that T cells use glucose to make big molecules called glycosphingolipids, or GSLs, which help them grow and do their job.”
GSLs are special sugar and fat compounds. They help form parts on the surface of T cells called lipid rafts.
These lipid rafts act like control centers. They organize the proteins that tell T cells to attack cancer. If there aren’t enough GSLs, these signals get weaker, and the T cells can’t fight cancer as well.
Dr. Russell Jones, the senior author, added: “T cells and cancer cells both use nutrients in different ways. Learning how glucose helps T cells can help us improve their ability to fight cancer. It could also help us create treatments that make cancer cells easier to kill.”
This discovery is important because it helps scientists better understand how immune cells work. It also gives new ideas for improving cancer treatments that boost the immune system.
The study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. It gives hope for developing smarter cancer therapies that help T cells use glucose better in the fight against cancer.
