In this BSI Medical Society presentation, Professor Thomas Seyfried challenges the dominant somatic mutation theory of cancer, arguing instead that cancer is fundamentally a metabolic disease rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction. Drawing on decades of research, he contends that damage to cellular respiration forces cells to rely on fermentation—primarily of glucose and glutamine—driving uncontrolled growth and malignancy. Genetic mutations, in this view, are downstream effects rather than the initiating cause.

Seyfried supports this paradigm shift with historical analogies, experimental data, and clinical case studies in both humans and animals, highlighting metabolic therapies such as ketogenic diets and targeted metabolic drugs. He calls for a reorientation of cancer treatment away from approaches that may further damage mitochondria, including radiation and chemotherapy, and toward strategies that restrict cancer’s metabolic fuel supply. The lecture ultimately urges a fundamental rethink of cancer biology, research priorities, and therapeutic design.