Elzem Nisa ALKAN, Sümeyye KAYAOĞLU, Sezgin GÜNEŞ, Neslihan HEKİM, Sercan ERGÜN
Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine - 2026;43(2):230-251
Nutrition is a fundamental biological necessity for all living organisms. While adequate and balanced nutrition is of critical importance for maintaining health and sustaining vital activities, excessive intake of nutrients causes gaining weight and accumulation of fat, leading to a higher risk for the development of various types of cancer. Additionally, our lifestyle and harmful lifestyle habits, such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical inactivity, stress, substance abuse, and exposure to endocrine disruptors, significantly affect the likelihood of developing cancer. Cancer is a highly heterogeneous and world-devastating disease, and understanding the factors that influence it, as well as the mechanisms through which these factors contribute to its etiology and pathophysiology, is of great significance. In this context, we summarized current evidence regarding the mechanisms through which nutrients and lifestyle-related factors influence cancer development and progression, including inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic dysregulation, hormonal alterations, epigenetic modifications, immune modulation, and alterations in cellular signaling pathways involved in proliferation, apoptosis, and tumor progression. Among lifestyle related factors, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol consumption appeared to be the most consistently associated with increased cancer risk across multiple cancer types.
