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We took into account autophagy and apoptosis, as well as the ability of HNSCC cell lines FaDu and Detroit 562 to proliferate, and the effect of flavonoids on the determined parameters. The obtained results revealed that MeP inhibits autophagy, indicated by downregulation of autophagy-related proteins such as beclin-1, LC3\u03b2, and APG5 expression in both cancer cell lines. Moreover, MeP, by changing the expression of mitochondrial proteins Bcl-2 and Bax, may be responsible for the reduction of apoptosis and the increased proliferation of cancer cells associated with high expression of caspase-3. The applied flavonoids restored the values of the tested parameters to the level observed in cells not exposed to MeP. In conclusion, our studies have shown for the first time that MeP, in addition to well-documented exposure factors, may facilitate the development of HNSCCs. We suggest that the adverse effects of MeP can be reduced by the use of flavonoids, which may lead to the inhibition of HNSCC cells growth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2478\/aite-2026-0005","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]],"date-time":"2025-11-24T19:01:21Z","timestamp":1764010881000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Methylparaben Modulates the Relationship Between Autophagy and Apoptosis in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Lines"],"prefix":"10.2478","volume":"74","author":[{"given":"Ewa","family":"Jablonska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology , Medical University of Bialystok , Bialystok , Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Agnieszka","family":"Iwaniuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology , Medical University of Bialystok , Bialystok , Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wioletta","family":"Ratajczak-Wrona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology , Medical University of Bialystok , Bialystok , Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kinga Henryka","family":"Nowacka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology , Medical University of Bialystok , Bialystok , Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marzena","family":"Garley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology , Medical University of Bialystok , Bialystok , Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026072522431553112_j_aite-2026-0005_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abd El-Aziz YS, Leck LYW, Jansson PJ et al. 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