Nutrigenomics and Cancer Prevention

Cancer is fundamentally a genetic disease. At the beginning of the process is an alteration in the DNA of a single cell. This change in DNA can be caused by several factors, chemical, physical or biological phenomena. The stage of promotion is the second stage of carcinogenesis. The genetically altered cells, ie, "initiated," suffer the effects of carcinogens classified as oncopromo‐ tores. The initiated cell is transformed into a malignant cell, a slow and gradual process. For this transformation to occur, you need a long and continuous contact with the carcinogen promot‐ er. The stage of progression is the third and final stage and is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of cells and irreversibly changed. At this stage cancer is already installed, progress‐ ing to the emergence of the first clinical manifestations of the disease [1]. In this sense, the diet plays a key role in various stages of cancer development. The process of carcinogenesis may be affected by nutritional factors through mechanisms that promote or inhibit its development. Some foods can contain not only carcinogens, but also other substances that act to reduce the damage to the cell's genetic material caused by environmental mutagens. The observation of cancer in an individual does not identify the causative agent(s). However, epidemiological data on populations do indicate that a large fraction of human cancers are associated with lifestyle/ diet. Such studies may also help identify the etiologic agents but unless there are good doseresponse data for humans and/or animal models, the probability of identifying the agent is not high. Cancers may result from endogenous reactions, such as oxidations or from exogenous agents, such as tobacco smoke (lung cancer), sunlight exposure (skin cancer), aflatoxin (liver cancer), and relatively high doses of ionizing radiations (many types of cancers) [2].