Figure 1. Diet can determine tumor cell metabolism which may have effects on initiation and progression of different type of cancers.

Diet intake influences nutrient availability in the body, affecting what nutrients are available during early initiation and tumor progression stages of cancer development. Various mechanisms are involved in diet‐induced cancer growth, primarily due to altered cellular metabolism, ROS production and diminished ROS scavenging, and altered immune cell infiltration or function. (A) Effects of high‐fat diet (HFD) and Western diets on initiation and progression of various cancers. Excess lipids consumed through HFD feeding can drive tumorigenesis and promote tumor growth by changing cellular metabolism to be more glycolytic, increasing levels of inflammation, increasing the production of ROS species that damage DNA and promote cellular stress mechanisms and DNA damage, and by affecting the amounts and types of immune cells that infiltrate the growing tumors. The diet also affects the composition of the gut microbiome, which impacts the growth of colorectal cancer, and also affects immune cell infiltration into tumors. Nutrients produced by microbes in the gut are also associated with promotion of cancer growth. (B) Diets high in fructose can affect initiation of hepatocellular carcinoma, but promote progression of tumors in other sites including colorectal and breast. Mechanisms involved in fructose‐driven cancer development and progression includes metabolic rewiring of cancer cells to be more glycolytic, allowing for increased de novo lipogenesis to sustain uncontrolled cell growth and altered ROS scavenging. Abbreviations and symbols: ROS (Reactive oxygen species), Δ (alterated), ↑ (high influence).