Ferroptosis: mechanisms and implications for cancer development and therapy response

As cancer cells develop resistance to apoptosis, non-apoptotic cell death modali-ties, such as ferroptosis, have emerged as promising strategies to combat therapy-resistant cancers. Cells that develop resistance to conventional therapies or me-tastatic cancer cells have been shown to have increased sensitivity to ferroptosis. Therefore, targeting the regulatory elements of ferroptosis in cancer could offer novel therapeutic opportunities. In this review, we first provide an overview of the known ferroptosis regulatory networks and discuss recent findings on how they contribute to cancer plasticity. We then expand into the critical role of selenium me-tabolism in regulating ferroptosis. Finally, we highlight specific cases where induc-tion of ferroptosis could be used to sensitize cancer cells to this form of cell death.

Automated summary

Ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic cell death modality, holds great potential as a strategy to combat therapy-resistant cancers. Cells that develop resistance to conventional therapies or metastatic cancer cells have shown increased sensitivity to ferroptosis. Therefore, studying the regulatory networks of ferroptosis in cancer and utilizing ferroptosis to enhance cancer cell sensitivity offer novel therapeutic opportunities.