Is CANCER a Reversible Metabolic Disease Caused by Fungus?
What if cancer isn't your cells 'going rogue', but cells under siege?
Cancer For many, the word alone carries a sense of fear, confusion, and helplessness. It’s often seen as a genetic time bomb, an unavoidable sentence written deep into our DNA. For decades, this has been the dominant story: that cancer is caused by random genetic mutations that spiral out of control, leading to rogue cells that multiply without restraint.
But what if that story isn’t the whole truth?
What if cancer isn’t the result of irreversible damage – but rather, a reversible metabolic state, driven not by chance mutations, but by a biological response to a hidden invader?
This is the central question posed by a groundbreaking new theory – The Cell Suppression Theory – presented in the book The Cancer Resolution? By Mark Lintern. It builds on the solid foundation of the Metabolic Theory of cancer, but offers a bold, novel interpretation that reframes how we understand the disease, its hallmarks, and – critically – how we might treat it more effectively.
The Warburg Puzzle
In the 1920s, Nobel laureate Otto Warburg made a startling discovery: cancer cells consume vast amounts of glucose and generate energy using a primitive method called aerobic glycolysis – even when oxygen is plentiful.
This seemed odd. Healthy cells use oxygen-rich environments to produce energy efficiently through mitochondria via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). But cancer cells seemingly abandoned this, reverting to an ancient, less efficient process. This phenomenon became known as the Warburg Effect.
At first, many thought this was just a symptom of cancer. But later research suggested it might actually be a driver of the disease.
Warburg himself believed cancer was primarily a metabolic disease – not a genetic one.
That idea fell out of fashion with the rise of genetic research due to the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 by Watson and Crick. But in recent years, interest in Warburg’s theory has returned with force.
The Metabolic Theory of cancer, championed by researchers like Professor Thomas Seyfried, suggests that the fundamental problem in cancer is dysfunctional mitochondria. That is, the cell’s energy factories break down, forcing the cell to rely on fermentation (glycolysis) for energy.
This, in turn, leads to uncontrolled growth, immune evasion, and the many traits we associate with cancer. It’s a compelling framework. But Mark argues there are a number of contentions that suggest irreversible damage to mitochondria isn’t the reason for the Warburg effect (cancer’s reliance on aerobic glycolysis for energy).
A New Interpretation: Metabolic Defense Against Infection
This is where the Cell Suppression Theory brings to light a crucial missing piece of the cancer puzzle.
Rather than viewing the Warburg effect as a result of cellular malfunction, the theory proposes it is an intentional, ancient cellular defense mechanism – a metabolic response to infection.
Specifically, to intracellular fungal pathogens.
Intracellular = Inside the cell
When a pathogen enters a cell, particularly one as stealthy and adaptive as certain fungi, the cell initiates what’s known as the Cell Danger Response (as described by Dr. Robert Naviaux).
This is a survival protocol: the cell changes its behaviour.
Crucial to this story, mitochondria intentionally suppress the OXPHOS pathway shifting metabolism away from mitochondrial energy production. This creates a hostile internal environment, one where oxygen is repurposed from an energy substrate to an antimicrobial agent. Sound familiar?
This metabolic shutdown mirrors the Warburg Effect exactly. What we have traditionally labelled as a cancerous malfunction may in fact be a metabolically orchestrated defense strategy – an immune-like response to fungal infection that becomes chronic.
In this light, cancer is not the result of a cell going rogue, but a cell under siege.
It’s no coincidence then, that fungal pathogens actively suppress cell death mechanisms to survive intracellularly and when we couple this interaction with the proliferative state that accompanies sustained Warburg metabolism, we can easily see how a tumour can form.
In fact, when discussing the correlations between masses created by fungi and that of cancer, Dr Vikram M.D from the Mayo Clinic in America, states “It is impossible to tell the two apart, they appear to be exactly the same thing”.
A Fungus Among Us
Fungi are ancient, opportunistic organisms that exist in a variety of forms, including yeasts and moulds. While some fungi coexist harmlessly with us, others can infiltrate tissues, hijack metabolic processes, and evade immune detection by modulating and suppressing the immune response.
Under the Cell Suppression Theory, cancer arises when specific types of intracellular fungi enter cells and suppress their natural function from within. These fungi benefit from a glycolytic environment (high sugar), immune suppression, and inflammation – all features characteristic of cancer.
What’s more, fungal infection provides a unifying explanation for the Warburg effect, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, immune evasion and all the remaining hallmarks of cancer.
The 10 Hallmarks of Cancer—Reinterpreted
Mainstream science defines 10 hallmarks that are common across virtually all cancers, from uncontrolled growth to resisting cell death. But until now, no single theory has convincingly explained all of them.
The Cell Suppression Theory does – through the lens of fungal infection and metabolic hijacking.
Sustained Proliferation: Fungi manipulate growth signals to support their own survival triggering a proliferative metabolism in infected cells.
Evading Growth Suppressors: Fungal interference disables normal regulatory checkpoints.
Resisting Cell Death: Fungi suppress apoptosis, the cell’s natural self-destruct mechanism.
Enabling Replicative Immortality: Infected cells bypass senescence to continue dividing due to suppression of programmed cell death and via the infection of stem cells.
Inducing Angiogenesis: New blood vessels bring nutrients – benefiting both the cell and the fungus, a process triggered through excessive lactic acid production and other upregulated factors in response to infection.
Activating Invasion and Metastasis: Fungal toxins and enzymes help break down tissue barriers and trigger cancer stem cell creation through a process called retrograde signalling and an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
Reprogramming Energy Metabolism: The Warburg effect – driven by an infection-induced defensive response.
Evading Immune Destruction: Fungi secrete compounds (like Nagalase) and upregulate proteins such as PD-L1 to blunt immune attacks and evade detection.
Genome Instability and Mutation: Oxidative stress and fungal metabolites causes DNA damage.
Tumor-Promoting Inflammation: Chronic fungal infection maintains a pro-tumor inflammatory state.
Rather than being random or coincidental, these features now appear as coordinated outcomes of a fungal hijacking strategy – one that reprograms cells to serve its needs.
Implications for Treatment: A New Therapeutic Horizon
If cancer is a chronic, suppressed metabolic state driven by intracellular fungal infection, it means something incredibly hopeful: this state could be reversible. And while the Cell Suppression Theory aligns with the metabolic therapies already being explored – like fasting, glucose restriction, mitochondrial support, and hyperbaric oxygen – it adds a vital dimension.
Many of these same treatments have antifungal properties.
Is it possible that we are already, unknowingly, targeting the fungal drivers of cancer in some of our most promising off-label approaches?
For example:
Metformin (a diabetes drug) alters glucose metabolism and also exhibits anti-fungal effects.
Lovastatin, a statin regulating cholesterol can also inhibit fungal pathogens.
Mebendazole, an antiparasitic, has shown anti-fungal and anticancer properties.
Doxycycline, one of the rare anti-bacterial drugs that is also anti-fungal.
Itraconazole, a known anti-fungal, is under investigation in cancer trials having shown efficacy against a broad range of cancers.
Are these drugs working not just by starving cancer cells of fuel, but by attacking the very fungal pathogens driving the disease?
The Cell Suppression Theory suggests they might be.
It opens the door to a more targeted, layered approach to treatment – one that combines metabolic support with explicit antimicrobial strategies, empowering patients and clinicians with a richer toolkit and a clearer rationale for combining therapies.
A Message of Hope for Patients
This theory doesn’t just reframe cancer – it reframes possibility.
It suggests that cancer is not a random mistake or an unfixable curse embedded in our genes. Rather, it is a biological reaction – one that can potentially be understood, influenced, and reversed.
Mark’s book, The Cancer Resolution?, explores this theory in depth – explaining the science in plain language and offering a structured framework to help patients evaluate treatment options through a new lens. It’s not about rejecting conventional medicine, but augmenting it with insights that empower you to take back control.
If you or someone you love is facing a cancer diagnosis, I invite you to explore this new perspective. Understanding cancer as a state of suppression rather than cellular rebellion changes everything. It brings clarity, strategy, and – most of all – hope. We may be closer than we think to changing the cancer story for good.
To learn more about the Cell Suppression Theory and the framework that could empower your healing journey, get your copy of The Cancer Resolution? Today. A science-backed guide to understanding cancer – and taking back control.
More information can be found on Mark’s website www.cellsuppression.com
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute the provision of medical advice or professional services. Amanda King ND is a UK trained Naturopathic Practitioner, in the UK, the legend ND means ‘Advanced Naturopathic Diploma’ not Naturopathic Doctor as it does in the US & Canada. Amanda is also not a medical Doctor. This information does not replace medical care or recommendations from a physician familiar with you, your health and laboratory data, or who is actively providing you with medical treatment. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider regarding a medical condition.
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Amanda thank you for sharing this. Dr Flora wants you to stay in your lane. I wasn’t going to comment until I saw his. My brother is still kicking after using an alt treatment for GBM. He’s doing great!! That particular conspiracy theory has kept him alive for almost 3 years.
Dr. Flora,
I have read through your comments. The time you have spent debating and commenting intrigues me. I find it interesting you have this kind of time as a treating oncologist and researcher (Primary Investigator pharmaceutical sponsored trials). You must have amazing Investigator oversight. In my 15 years of clinical research specifically as a monitor, the PIs rarely can meet with us to discuss QA. Your Site Monitor is lucky as I am sure if you have this kind of time on this topic and commenting on this thread you have an abundance of time to devote as a Primary Investigator let alone a treating physician. You are concerned about permissions of other people. Is your Healthcare System aware you are involved in making public comments such as these?