| Rank |
Pathway / Axis |
Cancer / Tumor Context |
Normal Tissue Context |
TSF |
Primary Effect |
Notes / Interpretation |
| 1 |
NF-κB inflammatory / survival signaling |
NF-κB ↓; COX-2 ↓; cytokines ↓ (reported) |
Inflammatory tone ↓ |
R, G |
Anti-inflammatory / anti-survival |
One of the more consistently reported mechanisms across tumor models. |
| 2 |
PI3K → AKT → mTOR axis |
PI3K/AKT ↓; proliferation ↓ (model-dependent) |
↔ |
R, G |
Growth signaling suppression |
Frequently observed downstream of cinnamaldehyde exposure. |
| 3 |
Intrinsic apoptosis (mitochondrial pathway) |
Bax ↑; Bcl-2 ↓; caspases ↑ (reported) |
Minimal activation at lower exposure |
G |
Apoptotic induction |
Apoptosis induction often associated with mitochondrial depolarization. |
| 4 |
ROS modulation (dose-dependent) |
ROS ↑ (tumor contexts); apoptosis ↑ |
Antioxidant activity at low exposure |
P, R |
Redox modulation |
Cinnamaldehyde may increase ROS in cancer cells while acting antioxidant at lower doses. |
| 5 |
MAPK pathways (ERK / JNK / p38) |
Stress-MAPK modulation (context-dependent) |
↔ |
P, R, G |
Signal reprogramming |
JNK/p38 activation reported in apoptosis models; ERK modulation varies. |
| 6 |
HIF-1α / glycolysis signaling |
HIF-1α ↓; glycolytic gene expression ↓ (reported) |
↔ |
R, G |
Indirect Warburg modulation |
Not a direct enzyme inhibitor; metabolic effects appear secondary to survival pathway suppression. |
| 7 |
Angiogenesis (VEGF signaling) |
VEGF ↓; angiogenesis ↓ (reported) |
↔ |
G |
Anti-angiogenic |
Observed in some in vitro and animal models. |
| 8 |
Cell-cycle regulation (G1/G2-M arrest) |
Cell-cycle arrest ↑ (reported) |
↔ |
G |
Cytostasis |
Associated with reduced Cyclin/CDK expression. |
| 9 |
Metastasis / EMT modulation |
MMPs ↓; migration ↓ (reported) |
↔ |
G |
Anti-invasive phenotype |
Likely downstream of NF-κB and PI3K modulation. |
| 10 |
Safety / composition constraint (coumarin content) |
High cassia intake may pose hepatotoxicity risk |
Generally safe in culinary amounts |
— |
Translation constraint |
Cassia cinnamon contains higher coumarin; Ceylon cinnamon preferred for higher intake. |