Dysregulation of NRF2 in cancer cells can create a delicate balance where ROS levels remain high enough to support tumour growth and survival but still within the cell’s tolerance threshold (Jung et al., 2018; Osman et al., 2023; Wu et al., 2020) This review examines the intricate interplay between ROS, oncogenic KRAS and NRF2 in cancer, with a focus on metabolic reprogramming that occurs under oxidative stress conditions. Here, NFE2L2 is linked to cancer.