A recent study by Kavitha et al. [145] based on a hamster buccal model (HBP) of HNSCC induced by the popular carcinogen DMBA indicated that astaxanthin may have chemopreventive effects and that these may act through the stimulation of cytoprotective antioxidants, phase II detoxification molecules, and DNA repair enzymes, activated by Nrf2 and Keap1 proteins. Here, KEAP1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.