Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer • Hacker News Board

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#11

Post by fabian2k » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:32 PM UTC

I wouldn't draw any medical conclusions from that paper, it's really not looking at anything like that. And the title of this article does not represent the paper at all.

They did some experiments to find pathways in the cells that play a role in leukemia. And they found that taurine receptors appear to be important in some way. So this is an interesting starting point, but not anything like what is suggested in the title.

If I understand the paper right, "the cells feed on taurine" is also just wrong. What they see is that taurine plays a role in regulating glycolysis in those leukemia cells. And of course glycolysis uses glucose as indicated by its name, and taurine looks nothing like glucose.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#12

Post by jeffbee » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:32 PM UTC

dynm wrote: post #6

From the title, I read this expecting another lame observational study which I would probably distrust on the basis that it doesn't show anything causal. It's not that! Rather, if I understand it, they (1) took mice and introduced leukemia cells and (2) took human leukemia cell lines. In both cases, they found biomarkers related to leukemia growth. (I welcome corrections to that understanding from experts!) Personall…

The paper (an extremely difficult one to comprehend, reminding us how complex this field of research has become) only glancingly mentions energy drinks because apparently they are sometimes used to offset the effects of chemotherapy. That is, the context in which they are mentioned is people who already have leukemia. The entire rest of the paper is about how taurine produced by the body's own cells contributes to the advancement of the established disease.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#13

Post by GauntletWizard » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:34 PM UTC

Legend2440 wrote: post #3

>The research team discovered that leukaemia cells feed on taurine through a process called glycolysis, in which cells break down sugar to produce energy. >This process helps cancer cells multiply more rapidly, worsening the disease. If I’m reading this right, it doesn’t cause cancer, but if you already have cancer it may make it spread faster.

But these cancers are naturally occurring, happen all the time, and are usually caught by the immune system before they become large and problematic. Adding a bunch of fuel means it's far far more likely that they are growing too big too fast. It may or may not cause cancer, but it causes cancer to be a problem more often.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#14

Post by BenFranklin100 » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:38 PM UTC

Important point: The biomedical research that made this sort of study possible where it wasn’t before is under attack by RFK and DOGE. The study used scRNA-seq, CRISPR, and leukemia enriched stem cells to help identify a potential causal pathway. All these technologies were developed with NIH funding. The detailed, quantifiable research shown in this study relied on these technologies and is superior to epidemiology studies that would only show a vague association between energy drink consumption and higher cancer rates.

Trump/RFK has proposed slashing the NIH budget by 40%. Further, DOGE and Trump political appointees are deeply embedded within the NIH and are preventing research grants Notice of Award (NoAs) from going out. This will have disastrous consequences for biomedical research.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#15

Post by Qem » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

Legend2440 wrote: post #3

>The research team discovered that leukaemia cells feed on taurine through a process called glycolysis, in which cells break down sugar to produce energy. >This process helps cancer cells multiply more rapidly, worsening the disease. If I’m reading this right, it doesn’t cause cancer, but if you already have cancer it may make it spread faster.

IIRC folate also share this property. It helps where tissues have fast growth or replenishment rates (infants still developing in utero, lifelong hair growth, digestive system lining, skin, et cetera), but as a side effect, when cancer happens, it supercharges tumors. Situations like this are probably one contributor for life extension being a difficult problem. When you try to apply a given fix you end increasing the risk of something else in the body breaking.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#16

Post by ck2 » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

Don't completely discard the danger but keep in mind ANY supplement that improves cell efficiency also helps cancer, with very rare exception.

1000x times more worried about micro-plastics and forever-chemicals now saturating every water source on the planet, that cannot possibly end well for cancer rates and other diseases.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#17

Post by hackernewds » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:47 PM UTC

Legend2440 wrote: post #3

>The research team discovered that leukaemia cells feed on taurine through a process called glycolysis, in which cells break down sugar to produce energy. >This process helps cancer cells multiply more rapidly, worsening the disease. If I’m reading this right, it doesn’t cause cancer, but if you already have cancer it may make it spread faster.

The outcome is the same.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#18

Post by Qem » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:49 PM UTC

_xerces_ wrote: post #2

It appears that the trial is still ongoing: https://www.cancer.gov/research/participate/clinical-trials-... The theory is that the taurine added to the drinks is feeding gut bacteria that then produce hydrogen sulfide that damages the intestinal lining.

Most sulfides are insoluble. I wonder if ingestion with calcium/magnesium/iron rich foods may mitigate the risk, by precipitating the sulfide formed, instead of letting it stay as fast diffusing H2S.

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#19

Post by haffi112 » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC

dynm wrote: post #6

From the title, I read this expecting another lame observational study which I would probably distrust on the basis that it doesn't show anything causal. It's not that! Rather, if I understand it, they (1) took mice and introduced leukemia cells and (2) took human leukemia cell lines. In both cases, they found biomarkers related to leukemia growth. (I welcome corrections to that understanding from experts!) Personall…

Taurine deficiency has been claimed to be a driver of aging [1]. The claim from the news article about it possibly being related to cancer seems like it needs a much stronger justification.

[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257

Re: Energy drinks linked to rise in colorectal and blood cancer

#20

Post by narrator » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

klipt wrote: post #10

dynm wrote: post #6

From the title, I read this expecting another lame observational study which I would probably distrust on the basis that it doesn't show anything causal. It's not that! Rather, if I understand it, they (1) took mice and introduced leukemia cells and (2) took human leukemia cell lines. In both cases, they found biomarkers related to leukemia growth. (I welcome corrections to that understanding from experts!) Personall…

But does it show taurine is specifically worse than other amino acids? Otherwise it's just showing that cancer can feed on protein which is ... unsurprising? Might as well say "tofu causes cancer" or "meat causes cancer" or "milk causes cancer"

The inverse of this study, in which a nutrient that helps cells grow, including cancer cells, is the cause of cancer is that every substance they find that kills cells, but is slightly more likely to kill cancer cells than regular cells is suddenly the cure for cancer.