As Nrf-2 activators have shown much incredible potential in disease prevention33, especially in cancer treatment, we firstly analyzed endogenous Nrf-2 activity in HeLa cells which were transfected with luciferase-based Nrf-2 reporter plasmid after treatment with a series of novel substituted phenyl-(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)-prop-2-en-1-one, indolyl-chalcone derivatives (3a -3d, 6a-6e). This evidence concerns the gene NFE2L2 and cancer.