Question

From where do dividing cancer cells derive energy?

• A. Glycolysis
• B. Mitochondria
• C. Oxidative phosphorylation
• D. Anaerobic metabolism

Hint:

Cancer cells favor aerobic glycolysis, the Warburg effect, using glycolysis for energy and building blocks even when oxygen is present.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Recall the Warburg effect.
Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells convert most of their glucose into lactate in the cytoplasm even when plenty of oxygen is available to them. This is called aerobic glycolysis, glycolysis running at full speed despite the presence of oxygen, not the classic starved-of-oxygen response.

Step 2: Understand why a rapidly dividing cell prefers this route.
A cancer cell is not just chasing ATP, it is building new cells constantly, so it needs a steady stream of raw material such as nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids. Glycolysis is fast and its intermediate products feed directly into these biosynthetic pathways, even though it yields far less ATP per glucose molecule than full oxidation through the mitochondria.

Step 3: Rule out the other choices.
Mitochondria and oxidative phosphorylation are relatively downplayed in many rapidly dividing cancer cells, since the cell is choosing speed and building blocks over maximum ATP yield, so these are not the primary answer here. Anaerobic metabolism is the wrong label altogether, because the defining feature of the Warburg effect is that this glycolytic shift happens even when oxygen is fully available, not because oxygen is lacking.

Step 4: Final answer.
Dividing cancer cells mainly draw their energy and building blocks from
\[ \boxed{\text{Glycolysis}} \]