Research

Hormonal

Caloric restriction protects against induced carcinogenesis in mice, but this protective effect is entirely dependent on the Nrf2 pathway; without Nrf2, caloric restriction fails to suppress tumor development.

Caloric restriction is a powerful tool for cancer prevention, but its effectiveness relies on your body's ability to activate specific stress-response genes (Nrf2). If these genes are compromised, the cancer-protective benefits of calorie restriction may be lost, even if other benefits like insulin sensitivity remain.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Here, we show that Nrf2 is responsible for most of the anticarcinogenic effects of CR, but is dispensable for increased insulin sensitivity and lifespan extension.
Kevin J. Pearson et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2008

Why this rating

Controlled animal study with clear genotype controls (WT vs KO) and statistical significance, but limited to mice.

Source

Nrf2 mediates cancer protection but not prolongevity induced by caloric restriction

Kevin J. Pearson et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2008

DOI 10.1073/pnas.0712162105

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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