Table 3.

The relationship between inflammation, cancer, and the KD

Topic	Key findings	Mechanism/Effect	References
TNF-α & Cancer	KD/DON combination reduces TNF-α expression in GBM	Glutamine antagonism	[130]
	KD suppresses TNF-α in breast cancer via MMP-9 and PPARγ	PPARγ activation	[131]
MMPs & Cancer	KD reduces MMP-9 expression in cancer	Anti-metastatic effects	[113]
PKM2 & Cancer	KD attenuates PKM2, reducing glucose uptake and lactate production	Metabolic reprogramming	[13]
	Ketone bodies (particularly BHB) inhibit PKM2, reducing ATP and promoting apoptosis	Glycolysis inhibition	[132]
p53 & Cancer	KD (p53 β-hydroxybutyrylation) induces deacetylation and degradation of mutant p53	Epigenetic regulation	[117]
Epigenetics & Cancer	Ketone bodies (BHB) modulate DNA methylation and histone modifications.	β-hydroxybutyrylation	[133, 134]