Mechanisms Underlying Dietary Bioactive-Mediated Immune Modulation in Cancer

Dietary modulation of immunity represents a promising frontier in understanding cancer prevention, progression, and treatment response. Emerging research shows that food-derived bioactive molecules and metabolic intermediates—including polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, short-chain fatty acids, specific lipid species, and amino acid metabolites—possess immunomodulatory properties that affect both innate and adaptive immune systems. These compounds can influence immune cell activation, inflammatory signaling, and metabolic reprogramming, directly shaping the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the efficacy of immune-based therapies. Despite these advances, a comprehensive understanding of how nutrients and their metabolites regulate immune-metabolic signaling in cancer remains incomplete. Challenges persist in disentangling the context-dependent effects of dietary bioactives and elucidating the molecular interactions that position them as potential modulators of tumor immunosurveillance. This Research Topic aims to explore the complex molecular mechanisms underlying dietary bioactive-mediated anti-tumor immunity with an emphasis on cellular signaling, metabolic regulation, and immune cell dynamics within the TME. By integrating molecular nutrition, immunometabolism, and oncology, this collection seeks to identify how specific dietary compounds and nutrient-sensing pathways can reprogram immune responses to promote anti-tumor activity. We welcome studies specifically focusing on macrophage polarization (M1/M2 switching) and immunoregulatory signaling cascades stimulated by dietary components. Ultimately, this Research Topic aims to bridge fundamental mechanistic insights with translational perspectives, highlighting dietary modulation as a pathway to improved cancer immunity and therapeutic synergy. To gather further insights into the mechanisms linking diet, immunity, and cancer modulation, we welcome papers addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• How dietary bioactives and metabolic intermediates (e.g., resveratrol, curcumin, quercetin, chrysin, thymoquinone, gallic acid, sinapic acid, chlorogenic acid, rutin/sophorin, α-terpineol, short-chain fatty acids, specific lipid species, amino acid metabolites, and other phytonutrients) activate innate immune sensors and adaptive immune effectors in the tumor context. • Modulation of key immunoregulatory signaling cascades, metabolic gatekeepers, and nutrient-sensing axes by dietary components, including the NLRP3 inflammasome, NF-κB, HIF-1α, PI3K/Akt, JAK-STAT, and Nrf2 pathways. • Dietary regulation of immune cell function within the tumor microenvironment (TME), including macrophage polarization (M1/M2 switching), dendritic cell activation, natural killer cell cytotoxicity, and T-cell-mediated anti-tumor responses. • Nutrient-driven cytokine reprogramming (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-18, IFN-γ) and its impact on tumor immune evasion and immunosurveillance. • Crosstalk between dietary-induced redox signaling networks and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated immunomodulation in the cancer setting. Topic editors: Rehan Khan, Nemat Ali, Alpana Sharma Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84007/mechanisms-underlying-dietary-bioactive-mediated-immune-modulation-in-cancer