RESUMO
Cancer is a complex group of diseases where different signaling pathways have been found to be deregulated, mainly related to cell proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, evasion of apoptosis and insensitivity to anti-growth sings among others. Diet plays a fundamental role in the treatment of the oncological patients, we must be aware that food can interact with certain types of cancer therapy. On the other hand, cancer therapies sometimes affect the patient's sense of smell, taste, appetite, gastric capacity or nutrient absorption, which often results in malnutrition due to the lack of essential nutriments. In this chapter we will review the effect of different metabolic disorders in cancer and mechanisms of action of some phytochemicals found in different foods like resveratrol, EGCG, curcumin and lycopene.