Role of Antioxidant Vitamins and Other Micronutrients on Regulations of Specific Genes and Signaling Pathways in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

Sep 24, 2026

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Cancer is a rapidly escalating global health problem, with 19.3 million new cases and 9.9 million deaths in 2020, requiring effective prevention strategies. Diet strongly influences cancer risk by shaping nutrient availability and bioactive signaling networks across the genome, a field advanced by nutrigenomics. A literature search (2017–2023) identified peer-reviewed evidence on vitamins, minerals, tumor biology, genes, inflammation, signaling pathways, and nutrigenomics, selecting 90 high-relevance studies. Antioxidant micronutrients activate or regulate key pathways such as MAPK, PKC, and PI3K, modulating WNT/β-catenin and NF-kB signaling and contributing antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects. The review synthesizes these mechanisms to support nutrigenomics-guided cancer prevention and therapy development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Cancer epidemiology and prevention through diet

Abstract-driven scope and review selection criteria

Search strategy and included evidence

Molecular mechanisms

MAPK, PKC, PI3K signaling and WNT/β-catenin

NF-κB inhibition and anti-tumor effects

Review Role of Antioxidant Vitamins and Other Micronutrients on Regulations of Speciﬁc Genes and Signaling Pathways in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer Oladapo F. Fagbohun 1, Caroline R. Gillies 2, Kieran P. J. Murphy 3 and H. P. Vasantha Rupasinghe 1,4, * Citation: Fagbohun, O.F.; Gillies, C.R.; Murphy, K.P.J.; Rupasinghe, H.P.V. Role of Antioxidant Vitaminsand Other Micronutrients on Regulations of Speciﬁc Genes and Signaling Pathways in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 6092. [https://doi.org/](https://doi.org/)[ ](https://doi.org/)[10.3390/ijms24076092](10.3390/ijms24076092) Academic Editor: Marco E. M. Peluso Received: 5 February 2023 Revised: 20 March 2023 Accepted: 22 March 2023 Published: 23 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS B2N 2R8, Canada; [fg283429@dal.ca](fg283429@dal.ca) 2 Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS B2N 2R8, Canada; caroline.gillies@dal.ca 3 Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 2S8, Canada; [kieran.murphy@uhn.ca](kieran.murphy@uhn.ca) 4 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada * [Correspondence: vrupasinghe@dal.ca](Correspondence: vrupasinghe@dal.ca); Tel.: +1-902-956-1917 Abstract: Cancer is an escalating global issue, with 19.3 million new cases and 9.9 million deaths in 2020. Therefore, effective approaches to prevent cancer are urgently required. Diet plays a signiﬁcant role in determining cancer risk. Nutrients and food bioactives inﬂuence speciﬁc signaling pathways in the body. Recently, there have been signiﬁcant advances in cancer prevention research through nutrigenomics or with the effects of dietary components on the genome. Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to search for peer-reviewed articles between 2017 and 2023 . Criteria used were vitamins, minerals, tumors, cancer, genes, inﬂammation, signaling pathways, and nutrigenomics. Among the total of 1857 articles available, the highest relevant 90 articles that speciﬁcally discussed signaling pathways and genes on cancer cell lines and human cancer patients were selected and reviewed. Food sources are rich in antioxidant micronutrients, which are effective in activating or regulating signaling pathways involved in pathogenesis and cancer therapy by activating enzymes such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), protein kinase C (PKC), and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) . The micronutrients are involved in the regulation of 􀀌-catenin (WNT/􀀌-catenin) including mutations in Kras and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) alongside inhibition of the NF-kB pathway. The most common mechanism of cancer prevention by these micronutrients is their antioxidative, anti-inﬂammation, and anti-apoptosis effects. This review discusses how nutrigenomics is essential and beneﬁcial for developing cancer prevention and treatment approaches. Keywords: antioxidants; cancer; nutrigenomics; vitamins; minerals; cell signaling; genes 1. Introduction Cancer is the uncontrollable division of cells in the body due to damage to genetic material. The prognosis of cancer depends on the type of cancer and whether the cancer is malignant (spreading to other tissues) or benign (contained to a single tissue type) . In 1893, Rudolph Virchow was the ﬁrst to identify that inﬂammation is associated with the development of cancer. Research on cancer progressed signiﬁca

FAQs

How does diet influence cancer risk in this review?

Diet influences cancer risk by providing nutrients and food bioactives that modulate specific signaling pathways and genomic regulation. The review frames this through nutrigenomics and diet–genome interactions.

What signaling pathways and targets are highlighted for antioxidant micronutrients?

The review highlights MAPK, PKC, and PI3K pathways, involvement in WNT/β-catenin regulation, and inhibition of NF-κB. It also discusses relationships with genetic contexts such as KRAS and EGFR.

What is the main conclusion about how these micronutrients may help prevent or treat cancer?

The most common protective mechanisms described are antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects. These actions support signaling regulation relevant to cancer pathogenesis and therapy.

Sep 24, 2026

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