# Understanding the Warburg effect: the metabolic requirements of cell proliferation

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-vander-heiden-science/  
OnCo record `paper-vander-heiden-science` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Paper cited by one term page, indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 19460998 and published in Science; the citing page links this DOI, which is how the record was matched.

## Summary

In contrast to normal differentiated cells, which rely primarily on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to generate the energy needed for cellular processes, most cancer cells instead rely on aerobic glycolysis, a phenomenon termed "the Warburg effect." Aerobic glycolysis is an inefficient way to generate adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), however, and the advantage it confers to cancer cells has been unclear. Here we propose that the metabolism of cancer cells, and indeed all proliferating cells, is adapted to facilitate the uptake and incorporation of nutrients into the biomass (e.g., nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids) needed to produce a new cell. Supporting this idea are recent studies showing that (i) several signaling pathways implicated in cell proliferation also regulate metabolic pathways that incorporate nutrients into biomass; and that (ii) certain cancer-associated mutations enable cancer cells to acquire and metabolize nutrients in a manner conducive to proliferation rather than efficient ATP production. A better understanding of the mechanistic links between cellular metabolism and growth control may ultimately lead to better treatments for human cancer.

Indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 19460998 (DOI 10.1126/science.1160809). Matched by DOI alone: one term page cites this DOI among its external links (the pages are listed under Related), and this page was written so that the citation resolves inside OnCo. No figure has been checked by an editor.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: europepmc-ingest
- Journal: Science
- Year: 2009
- DOI: 10.1126/science.1160809
- Authors: Vander Heiden MG, Cantley LC, Thompson CB
- What it means: One term page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
- Caveats: Matched to the citing OnCo records by DOI alone; the summary reproduces the Europe PMC abstract and no figure has been verified against the full paper.

## Sources

- Science 2009: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1160809
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19460998/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/19460998

## Connected records

- terms: [Metabolic theory of cancer: from Warburg to oncometabolites](https://onco.cc/terms/metabolic-theory-of-cancer/)
- journals: [Science](https://onco.cc/journals/science/)

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