Recent progress of ferroptosis in cancers and drug discovery

Ferroptosis is a nonapoptotic form of cell death characterized by iron dependence and lipid peroxidation. Ferroptosis is involved in a range of pathological processes, such as cancer. Many studies have confirmed that ferroptosis plays an essential role in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. In addition, a series of small-molecule compounds have been developed, including erastin, RSL3, and FIN56, which can be used as ferroptosis inducers. The combination of ferroptosis inducers with anticancer drugs can produce a significant synergistic effect in cancer treatment, and patients treated with these combinations exhibit a better prognosis than patients receiving traditional therapy. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the roles of ferroptosis in cancer is of great significance for the treatment of cancer. This review mainly elaborates the molecular biological characteristics and mechanism of ferroptosis, summarizes the function of ferroptosis in cancer development and treatment,illustrates the application of ferroptosis in patient's prognosis prediction and drug discovery, and discusses the prospects of targeting ferroptosis.