{"title":"Ferroptosis in cancer: molecular mechanisms, biological roles, and therapeutic significance.","authors":"Honghua Huang, Jintong Na, Jijie Shao, Qun Yang, Jingyi Su, Yupei Xu, Yongxiang Zhao, Liping Zhong","doi":"10.1007/s12094-026-04340-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death characterized by excessive lipid peroxidation. Molecules like GPX4, ACSL4, and SLC7A11 form the core regulatory network. GPX4 inhibits lipid peroxide accumulation, ACSL4 promotes ferroptosis through lipid metabolism remodeling, and SLC7A11 confers resistance to ferroptosis by maintaining redox homeostasis. Ferroptosis has a dual role in cancer: inducing it eliminates cancer cells, while its evasion enhances drug resistance and metastasis. Targeting ferroptosis represents an emerging investigational direction for anticancer therapeutic development, with single-target agents, combination regimens, and nanocarrier-based delivery systems exhibiting preliminary tumor-suppressive signals across diverse preclinical model systems. Despite extensive research, existing reviews lack systematic integration of ferroptosis-tumor microenvironment (TME) crosstalk, comparative analysis of cancer type-specific ferroptosis sensitivity, and critical evaluation of recent clinical progress. This review addresses these gaps by synthesizing molecular mechanisms, cancer-specific roles, TME interactions, and therapeutic applications, along with a critical assessment of clinical translation barriers, providing a framework for ferroptosis-targeted cancer therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":50685,"journal":{"name":"Clinical & Translational Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"4491-4510"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical & Translational Oncology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-026-04340-6","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/4/30 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death characterized by excessive lipid peroxidation. Molecules like GPX4, ACSL4, and SLC7A11 form the core regulatory network. GPX4 inhibits lipid peroxide accumulation, ACSL4 promotes ferroptosis through lipid metabolism remodeling, and SLC7A11 confers resistance to ferroptosis by maintaining redox homeostasis. Ferroptosis has a dual role in cancer: inducing it eliminates cancer cells, while its evasion enhances drug resistance and metastasis. Targeting ferroptosis represents an emerging investigational direction for anticancer therapeutic development, with single-target agents, combination regimens, and nanocarrier-based delivery systems exhibiting preliminary tumor-suppressive signals across diverse preclinical model systems. Despite extensive research, existing reviews lack systematic integration of ferroptosis-tumor microenvironment (TME) crosstalk, comparative analysis of cancer type-specific ferroptosis sensitivity, and critical evaluation of recent clinical progress. This review addresses these gaps by synthesizing molecular mechanisms, cancer-specific roles, TME interactions, and therapeutic applications, along with a critical assessment of clinical translation barriers, providing a framework for ferroptosis-targeted cancer therapy.
期刊介绍:
Clinical and Translational Oncology is an international journal devoted to fostering interaction between experimental and clinical oncology. It covers all aspects of research on cancer, from the more basic discoveries dealing with both cell and molecular biology of tumour cells, to the most advanced clinical assays of conventional and new drugs. In addition, the journal has a strong commitment to facilitating the transfer of knowledge from the basic laboratory to the clinical practice, with the publication of educational series devoted to closing the gap between molecular and clinical oncologists. Molecular biology of tumours, identification of new targets for cancer therapy, and new technologies for research and treatment of cancer are the major themes covered by the educational series. Full research articles on a broad spectrum of subjects, including the molecular and cellular bases of disease, aetiology, pathophysiology, pathology, epidemiology, clinical features, and the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer, will be considered for publication.