The problem with this reasoning, according to all of my mother's and husband's oncologists (including those at Mayo Clinic) is that all food turns to glucose in the blood for the body to use it. This is true, whether the food is sugar, a different carb, a protein food or a fat. All of the oncologists said that avoiding sugar does not slow the growth of cancer any more than avoiding other food. The reason it shows up on the PET scan, according the oncologists, is that the tumor has the fastest metabolic rate in the body, and as such it uses the blood glucose fastest.

My oncologist specifically told me that people make that erroneous connection. The PET scan uptake is similar to an insulin/sugar reaction.