Most of us would probably think of smoking or air pollution when it comes to lung cancer risk, but researchers have discovered an intriguing link between the disease and the quality of our diets.
The researchers, from the University of Florida and the University of Kentucky, found that the molecule glycogen, which stores the simple sugar glucose, could potentially act as a driver of some types of lung cancer.
Glycogen was found at higher levels in human tissue samples of lung adenocarcinoma, the type responsible for 40 percent of lung cancers worldwide. In tests on mice, the team found that more glycogen helped lung cancers to grow faster, while taking the molecule away led to restricted tumor growth.