Scientists Uncover How Sugar Powers Immune Cells To Fight Cancer

Scientists at the Van Andel Institute have uncovered a breakthrough role of glucose in the body’s most common sugar in supercharging the immune system’s fight against cancer.

The study, published September 2, 2025, in Cell Metabolism, reveals that glucose not only fuels immune cells called T cells but also helps build the very structures that enable them to communicate and kill tumour cells more effectively.

For years, researchers believed T cells relied on glucose simply for energy. But the new findings show that glucose is used to create large sugar-fat molecules known as glycosphingolipids (GSLs). These compounds form “lipid rafts” on the T cell surface — platforms that act like command centres, clustering the proteins that tell T cells when and how to attack cancer.

“We knew that T cells need access to glucose to function, but we didn’t know exactly why,” said Dr. Joseph Longo, first author of the study. “It was thought glucose was just fuel, but our work shows that T cells use glucose to build glycosphingolipids, which are crucial for their growth and activity.”

Without sufficient GSLs, the signalling system weakens, leaving T cells far less effective against tumours.

Dr. Russell Jones, the study’s senior author, explained the wider impact: “Both T cells and cancer cells use nutrients to support their needs. Understanding how glucose specifically helps T cells will allow us to better support their natural cancer-fighting abilities, and possibly develop treatments to make cancer cells more vulnerable.”

The research not only advances the understanding of immune cell metabolism but could also reshape approaches to cancer treatment. By optimising how T cells use nutrients like glucose, future therapies may strengthen the body’s own defences against the disease.

The study, supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, offers fresh hope for developing smarter, more effective immunotherapies.