Ferroptosis has been recently identified as the necrotic cell death marked by oxidative modification that is irondependent, and morphologically, biochemically and genetically different from other established cell deaths. More and more evidences demonstrate that ferroptosis plays an important role in cancer progression. This review summarizes recent advances in the study of the regulatory mechanisms in ferroptosis, mainly divided into classical and non-classical ferroptosis-inducing processes, and the function of ROS and non-coding RNAs in the regulation of ferroptosis. The relationship between ferroptosis and tumors is highlighted, including the involvement of tumor suppressors, hypoxia-inducible factors, NRF2 and cell epithelialmesenchymal transformation status in regulation of ferroptosis sensitivity, use of ferroptosis to target tumors, and development of four classes of ferroptosis inducers: types I, II, III and IV. Finally, the mechanisms are summarized by which ferroptosis can be possibly regulated in cancer cells, and how to conquer the ferroptosis resistance is also prospected to eventually promote ferroptosis as a new promising way to kill therapy-resistant cancers.

ferroptosis  /  ferroptosis inducers  /  cancer cells