Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Free Radic Biol Med. 2010 Sep 16;49(11):1603–1616. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2010.09.006

Figure 4. Model of the sensitivity of normal cells versus cancer cells to reactive oxygen species.

Figure 4

Normal cells are hypersensitive to ROS if not adequately protected by anti-oxidant mechanisms, which may lead to cancer formation. Cancer cells, on the other hand, have upregulated antioxidant mechanisms (glutathione, SOD, catalase, and others) that will protect them against ROS, as can be observed in, for example, the case of radioresistance.