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We need to talk about the Warburg effect

Nature Metabolism volume 2, pages 127–129 (2020)Cite this article

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We are approaching the 100th anniversary of Otto Warburg’s first description of the metabolic phenotype bearing his name—a propensity for tumours to metabolize glucose anaerobically rather than aerobically, even when oxygen is available. Generations of scientists have studied the Warburg effect, yet misconceptions persist about its causes and relationship to oxidative metabolism in the mitochondria. Here, we review the definition of the Warburg effect and discuss its place within a modern understanding of cancer biology.

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Fig. 1: Glycolysis and TCA-cycle metabolism supply anabolic pathways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Children’s Medical Center Research Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Ralph J. DeBerardinis

  2. Department of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Navdeep S. Chandel

Authors
  1. Ralph J. DeBerardinis
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  2. Navdeep S. Chandel
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Correspondence to Ralph J. DeBerardinis or Navdeep S. Chandel.

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Competing interests

R.J.D. is an advisor for Agios Pharmaceuticals. N.S.C. is an advisor for Rafael Pharmaceuticals.

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DeBerardinis, R.J., Chandel, N.S. We need to talk about the Warburg effect. Nat Metab 2, 127–129 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0172-2

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