From iron chelation to overload as a therapeutic strategy to induce ferroptosis in hematologic malignancies

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, non-apoptotic mode of cell death characterized by excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It plays an important role in the occurrence, development and treatment of various cancers, but little is known regarding the role of ferroptosis in hematologic malignancies. This review elaborates the regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis and the treatment opportunities for targeting ferroptosis in hematologic malignancies.

Methods:

A systematic literature review through PubMed was conducted to summarize the published evidence on the therapeutic potential of targeting ferroptosis in hematological malignant tumors. Literature sources published in English were searched, using the terms ferroptosis, leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Results:

More and more small molecules have been found to induce ferroptosis in hematologic malignancies through targeted iron metabolism and lipid peroxidation, and some ferroptosis inducers have been proved to have synergistic effect with other chemotherapeutic drugs.

Conclusion:

This paper discusses the significance of ferroptosis in hematologic malignancies and provides a new way for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, and more experimental studies should be conducted in future.

KEYWORDS:

• Ferroptosis
• hematological malignancies
• iron
• reactive oxygen species (ROS)
• lipid Peroxidation
• iron overload
• iron chelation
• Ferroptosis-inducing agents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This is not applicable for this review.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from Tianjin Municipal Commission of Education (2017KJ195).