REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1622597
Functional foods and exercise in breast cancer: Epigenetic modulation, chemotherapy tolerance, and fatigue management
Provisionally accepted
- School of Physical Education, Chengdu Normal University, Chengdu, China
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Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among women worldwide. There is increasing interest in the role of modifiable lifestyle factors, particularly nutrition and physical activity, in influencing cancer risk, progression, and treatment response.This review explores how functional foods and exercise can modulate BC through molecular and epigenetic mechanisms and evaluates their potential as adjunctive strategies in prevention and therapy.Functional foods, such as those rich in polyphenols, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and probiotics, impact BC biology through DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA regulation. Exercise similarly modulates key pathways related to inflammation, immune function, hormone balance, and apoptosis. Combined interventions show synergistic potential in reducing tumor growth, enhancing therapy response, and improving quality of life.Functional foods and exercise represent promising, non-toxic strategies for modulating BC risk and progression via epigenetic and cellular pathways. However, more clinical trials are needed to define optimal combinations and dosages. Future research should focus on precision-based, lifestyle-integrated cancer care approaches.
Keywords: Exercise, Functional Foods, breast cancer, performance, Epigenetic modulations
Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Haidong Liu, School of Physical Education, Chengdu Normal University, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.