Food-Derived Bioactive Compounds in Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion

Cancer remains one of the most pressing global health challenges despite substantial progress in diagnosis and treatment. Growing evidence demonstrates that diet plays a crucial role in modulating cancer risk, progression, and overall health. Food-derived bioactive compounds—naturally occurring chemicals in fruits, vegetables, cereals, nuts, edible fungi, herbs, and oils—are increasingly recognized as key modulators of oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular homeostasis, all of which influence cancer-related processes.Bioactive compounds represent a diverse group of secondary metabolites, including polyphenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, peptides, and polysaccharides, that exert physiological effects beyond basic nutrition. Their presence in commonly consumed foods positions them as accessible, dietary chemopreventive agents with the potential to support immune function, reduce oxidative damage, and influence metabolic and epigenetic pathways relevant to cancer prevention.While natural products and their synthetic analogs have traditionally been explored for drug development, it is equally important to understand their nutritional and functional relevance. Many bioactive constituents of foods modulate pathways involved in oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and cell proliferation—mechanisms that are central to both nutrition science and cancer biology. Advances in analytical chemistry, chemometrics, food chemistry, and in silico approaches now allow deeper characterization of these components, enabling the identification, quantification, and profiling of compounds with potential health-promoting and anticancer effects.In this Research Topic, we emphasize the integration of food chemistry, nutritional biochemistry, and molecular nutrition to highlight how bioactive compounds from dietary sources—and their nature-inspired synthetic analogs—can contribute to cancer prevention and overall health. By bridging classical natural product research with modern nutritional science, this Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive perspective on how food-derived components influence cancer-related mechanisms within a nutritional context.We welcome contributions including, but not limited to:• Identification, isolation, and structural characterization of food-derived bioactive compounds with relevance to cancer prevention• Quantification of bioactive components in foods and their contribution to the nutritional value and functional properties of the diet• Food chemistry approaches to characterize antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic effects of natural compounds• Mechanistic studies on how dietary bioactives modulate cancer-related pathways (oxidative stress, apoptosis, ER stress, inflammation, epigenetic regulation)• Application of chemometrics, metabolomics, and molecular docking to assess interactions and predict biological activity of compounds present in foods• Comparative profiling of bioactive constituents in edible plants, fungi, nuts, grains, and oils, and their impact on health outcomes• Studies exploring the role of nutritional bioactives in immune modulation and cancer prevention• Safety assessments and evaluations of dietary relevance, bioavailability, or metabolism of foodborne bioactive compoundsThis Research Topic aims to unite experts across food chemistry, nutrition, natural product research, and oncology to advance our understanding of how dietary bioactive compounds contribute to cancer prevention and long-term health. Topic editors: Milena Rašeta, Yusufjon Gafforov, Sankhadip Bose, Arghya Kusum Dhar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76367/food-derived-bioactive-compounds-in-cancer-prevention-and-health-promotion