Dr. Colleen Huber explores the biochemistry of cancer prevention in this second installment. She highlights Otto Warburg’s Nobel Prize-winning insight that the common cause of cancer is irreversible damage to cellular respiration. She explains how Vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) serve as essential cofactors in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, enabling normal oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production. When these vitamins are deficient, the normal energy pathway shuts down, diverting metabolism toward the cancer-promoting lactic acid fermentation route.

Three Most Important Points

1. Warburg’s Discovery: All cancers share one common cause — irreversible injury to cellular respiration (oxidative phosphorylation) in the mitochondria.

2. Critical Role of B2 & B3: These vitamins are key cofactors (as FAD and NAD) in the electron transport chain; without them, normal energy production fails.

3. Nutrition Prevents the Shift: Adequate B2 and B3 keep cells on the healthy metabolic pathway, reducing the risk of being forced into cancer metabolism.