Association between glucose consumption and cancer development: prostate cancer and bladder cancer

Cancer cells get their energy primarily from glucose, through glycolysis, to meet their energy needs. This is what makes cancer cells consume glucose in large quantities. This high use of glucose helps cancer cells to proliferate rapidly. Genitourinary cancers are classified as the most common malignant diseases in men. Genitourinary cancers form a specialized field focusing on cancers found in the urinary system and the male reproductive system. These include prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, testicular cancer, and cancers of the penis. Prostate cancer is a disease that develops when the normal cells of the prostate gland change and multiply uncontrollably to form a mass called a malignant tumor. The most common prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, which develop from the cells that make up the lining of the prostate. The bladder is an organ whose main role is to serve as a reservoir and to allow the evacuation of the urine produced by the kidneys. The cancer of the bladder corresponds to the transformation of a normal cell of the bladder into a cancerous cell, which multiplies anarchically. This anarchic multiplication will lead to the formation of an assembly more or less organized called malignant tumor. In this chapter we will establish the relationship between genitourinary cancer and glycolytic metabolism.