Researchers reviewed how the NRF2 signaling pathway affects hepatocellular carcinoma, a common type of liver cancer. The review found that the role of this pathway changes depending on the stage of the disease. In early stages of chronic liver injury, NRF2 helps protect cells by limiting oxidative stress and preventing DNA damage.
However, in advanced tumors, the findings show a different effect. In these later stages, the NRF2 pathway can help cancer cells survive better. It may promote the spread of the cancer and help it resist multiple drugs by changing how the cells manage glucose and other nutrients. It also helps the cancer resist a process called ferrocytosis.
Because this is a systematic review of basic and translational research, these findings are not yet proven in human clinical trials. The exact ways these pathways work in people still need more study. These results provide a theoretical basis for future treatments that target metabolic vulnerabilities in liver cancer.
