Fig. 2

Possible relationships between environmental factors, cancers (mainly carcinogenesis), and energy metabolism. One of the characteristics of cancer cells is energy dysfunction, which can be driven by multiple factors, such as oncogenes, and tumor suppressors, etc. Energy dysfunction can also directly or indirectly contribute to cancers as a carcinogenic factor, probably by affecting the microenvironment. Environmental factors might be involved in carcinogenesis mediated by energy dysfunction, or directly involved on the progress of cancer initiation. Other factors, such as individual subjective factors, can also contribute to energy dysfunction